


October

by JDBeckett



Series: 365 Prompts [10]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-01
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-03-22 09:36:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 42,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3724003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JDBeckett/pseuds/JDBeckett





	1. A Dark and Stormy Night

The day had been as dark as the previous night, as if the sun had forgotten to shine and its following evening was just as dark as it settled upon them. Morning had come along with a thunder's clap and the harsh slap of rain against the windows it could find to splatter on. Not a single cloud was willing to move aside to give the sun some shining room.

Early in the morning, Yael, looking outside because he most certainly couldn't step outside in this weather to get their usual fresh-baked bread, noticed Eoghan's car easing out from between the buildings and heading off. He assumed it was the usual, in-case-of-bad-weather transport. He tended to drive Armin and the twins to the library on days where it didn't seem right to be outside in the kind of weather they were having, waiting for the bus.

He leaned his head against the window, closing his eyes. He listened to the rain and imagined it falling on his face. Usually he loved stepping outside to feel the rain on him but right at that very moment he wasn't interested, they were a little after the middle of October and the weather was definitely turning out to be exactly what autumn weather was meant to be like when it wasn't bright and sunny.

Quentin stepped up to him, a steaming mug in both hands. He offered one over and Yael took it with a light smile and a murmured thank you.

"I don't think we're going much of anywhere today or tonight, weather reports say we're supposed to be getting this rain all day and well into the night." Quentin's voice is quiet, almost thoughtful as he sips from his tea. The warmth and steam of his tea-cup cling to the window, fogging it up lightly and Yael chuckles at the sight of it as he leaves it be, not wanting to wipe it off to not leave a smudge on the window.

"I guess we can just keep busy inside, it's not all different from usual though I was looking forward to more orange cranberry bread for breakfast." He laughs again, a soft sound and he moves to kiss Quentin's cheek gently before he straightens and steps away from the window and towards the kitchen to see about preparing something for them to have for breakfast, tea wouldn't really hold them until lunch.

Quentin follows him, keeping just a pace or so away to not be walking on his heels, always careful of where he steps because the kittens still seem to take every chance they can to try to trip them up while they're walking about. "This whole storm and the fact that if I didn't know better, I'd think we're already in the middle of the evening or even still at night, makes me think of that old story-starter, you know, the one that goes 'it was on a dark and stormy night'?"

Yael tilts his head as he brings out a container of jam along with some bread and peanut butter, the simplest of breakfast, it would do but it would also give them the energy he needed, he had plenty of work to do up in the garden though he didn't really feel like it, not with this kind of weather, it was a cuddle and sit by the fireplace kind of weather.

"I know the saying, I just can't really recall where I might have heard it or read it before." He prepares each of them a simple toasted sandwich of peanut butter and jelly, not much feeling like anything else. Tea along with peanut butter and jelly was perfect for this stormy morning.

Each with their light breakfast, they head back towards the living room, making an exception to their rule of never eating anywhere but in the kitchen. The fire is warm, its heat licking at their toes as they settle on one of the couches, shoulder to shoulder and simply savouring their little bit of life before they went anywhere else.

"I had in mind to transplant a few small growths in the garden today, think you're up to helping me?" Usually, Yael mostly takes care of the garden on his own though Quentin has done plenty over time to help in small ways. "They're trying to sprout fully under the lamps but I'm realizing they'll be better off in the shade, I'd just move where the spotlight hits them but the whole flower bed there needs full sun."

To Quentin, at first, all that came out of Yael's mouth when it concerned the garden, was non-sense. He couldn't understand a single word of it though at this point and where he was now, he understood most of it, even when his companion spoke new terms he'd never really heard before, he could put them in context and mostly grasp their meaning.

"I have no weaving to do and not much else to busy my hours but to help you so I'll get my pair of gardening pants before we go up and I'll help you." He rarely said no when he was asked if he could help. Yael never gave orders, he always asked and it was a rare occurrence when the answer was 'no'.

Finished with his light breakfast, Yael sets down his empty cup on the low table and he shifts his weight, moving to simply nestle lightly against Quentin's side. He closes his eyes and relaxes. He knows the plants will be fine to be moved even if it was just done in the afternoon, the stormy weather really seems to sap him of most desire to do anything at all during the day.

A few moments later, Quentin curls his arm about Yael's waist and breathes out a low sigh, a soft, quiet note of contentment. "I guess we can delay the plants for just a little while, a few hours."

The very words Yael has been thinking but hasn't really uttered. He's fine where he is with his toes warm and some food in his belly. He isn't usually the kind to laze but it just is that kind of morning.

  


When the mail comes, a couple of hours later, the pair untangles with soft yawns. They stretch, rub their eyes and slowly ease to their feet. Quentin takes both cups and heads back towards the kitchen to rinse them out and set them away. Yael walks to the door, closing the foyer one behind himself once he's certain he has no cats with him, then he braces himself against the storm and opens the outer door to reach for the mailbox. He opens it up, grasps all he can curl his fingers about and brings his arm back inside with the mail.

He looks at his soggy sleeve with something of a blink and he shakes his head as he closes the door and locks it, for good measures, the wind is howling.

He steps back inside, moving to the kitchen to set the mail down before he disappears into their bedroom to change his shirt. Of course he still would have changed it before heading up to the garden but now seemed like a good time considering how absolutely soaked the long sleeve was.

Digging through his wardrobe, he pulls out one of his older shirts and tugs it on. He looks down to his pants and nods to himself, those would do just fine while digging stuff up in the garden, they were already old and worn so it didn't much matter if he got dirt on them after all.

Moments before he steps out of the shared bedroom, Quentin joins him to change into some older clothes that he doesn't mind seeing temporarily dirty. "Nothing much in the mail, magazines, bills, the usual. I guess it could have waited until the storm passed though I know you're waiting for that one package."

Yael shrugs and moves to drop his soaked-sleeved shirt into the dryer. "I'll wait for you upstairs, don't take too long or I might think you don't feel like getting dirty."


	2. In the Shade

He was used to working while the sky was still dark but Yael couldn't remember the last time there actually had been a storm this bad. The splat of the rain against the windows is closer to a beating drum than anything else, he can barely hear himself thinking and talking seems almost moot.

Having found his gardening shoes, he walks up the stairs, half-listening to Quentin as he changed into some proper gardening clothes. He doesn't often ask for help because he knows he can manage the whole two floors by himself well enough but at times he knows that a little help can go a long way and that is what crossed his mind that morning after he realized he needed to move some of the plants.

It only takes a few minutes before Quentin walks up the stairs and into the garden area. The wooden door is left open though the screen door is closed as usual, it allows for a floral sort of breeze to flow through the house. "You'd think we're in the middle of the night, it's even more visible from up here."

Inevitable as it is, with a roof of glass and nothing but glass for windows, the darkened sky is much more visible from the second and third floor than it is from their spot on the first. He looks around as if amazed at how dark it all seems, even with the lights offering warm glow all around.

"So where are these particular plants that need more shade than sun that we need to move around? What are you going to set up in the empty spots when those are moved?"

Yael blinks at the second question. It hadn't actually crossed his mind. "The plants are over here and I honestly don't know. To be honest I only just figured I'd get them moved and that would be that but they'll leave pretty big gaps. Well maybe not the astilbe but the lady fern will for how big it has surprisingly gotten. The sky pencil holly is still tiny too, surprisingly."

Perhaps not all that surprisingly as most of those plants are at most a week or so old though Yael has proven a master of plant growth and growth spurt is not unnatural when he is around.

Quentin nods, as if he understands anything at all of what his companion has uttered. He can wrap his mind around most information when it comes to gardening, at least the basic kind, but plant names are just too much for him at this point and he tends to leave it to the other.

Yael leads them to an area that looks as though it was indeed freshly worked on. Quentin blinks at the size of the fern, that much he recognizes and shakes his head. That will leave some hole indeed when it will be moved but if Yael says that they need to be moved then he will believe those words and he will do what is necessary to help. That really is all there is to his mindset after all. Yael is the plant-master and he knows best.

  


After plenty of grunting, groaning, muttering, digging, digging some more and planting, the three plants that had required a move have been moved. Yael is now staring at the three holes left in his garden and he seems uncertain, as if he doesn't know what he's supposed to put there.

"I guess for now I'll just fill them back in, I have nothing to transplant and nothing new to set out, I usually don't even know what to plant at this time of the year so the holes will stay empty until next spring or at least the middle of winter when I get some sort of genius idea about what to set up here."

'Here' as it stands to be stated, is where he starts most of his plants, it's a slightly off the path area where he sets seeds of all kinds and waits to see what will grow, once something grows, usually he decides on what he'll do with it, be it transplant it or merely let it grow further. So even if the area is left untouched for a while, it hardly seems to change much.

Bags of earth are dragged closer and the holes are filled in. A few hours have gone by and still the sky is as dark as it could be, the rain has yet to let up in any way and Yael wonders just how much water they'll get. He hopes it won't be enough for any riverbeds to overflow though he knows it isn't really something he should worry about since there are no rivers anywhere near their properties at all.

"I think we're all done, unless you want me to look around to check if I find anything else that could require our attention?" He quirks a brow, a playful smile to his lips and Quentin groans, whining lightly in the back of his throat. Yael chuckles and shakes his head. "Okay, all right, we're done, let's head down though we'll need to bag these clothes before we step onto the stairs."

While not a clean freak, Yael appreciates being able to keep his home in a fair state of cleanliness and that usually means getting out of dirt-covered clothes before they go anywhere. "So I hope you put on some boxers, not that I'd mind otherwise." 

His grin speaks volumes and Quentin only blushes somewhat. Even though they have been together for some time now, their relationship has yet to really take a turn towards the physical side of things. Of course there were shared pleasure, they've seen one another bared more often than not but things simply have not stepped beyond that one particular line yet, so implications are always bound to bring forth a blush from either party.

"As if I'd forget to put on boxers when I know I'll be getting filthy up in the garden? I know how you think and I'm not giving you that satisfaction." With a laugh, Quentin steps towards the main doors, shrugging out of his filthy clothes as he went, down to nothing but his boxers. He gathers it all into his arms, shoes on top of the pile and starts on his way down those stairs, to drop the clothes in the washer and to head for their bathroom where he'd get the shower going.

"You should have stayed a minute more, I think I forgot to put on any underwear!" Yael calls out after him as he undresses in turns, also down to his boxers and gathers all of his things though he leaves his shoes up there. They are the only shoes he uses for gardening and he leaves them up there on the second floor for his use instead of bringing them up or down, it saved him from having to get them dirt free every time.

He drops his clothes in the washer, along with Quentin's own and goes to join the somewhat older demon in the bathroom where steam already is fogging up the glass doors of the shower. Yael chuckles and stretches with a low note of contentment. "Thank you for helping me move these three, I know I could have done it myself but I probably still would be digging up the new holes at this point and I wouldn't be anywhere near done."

Quentin smiles at him, offering his hand. Simple contact, shared between them, is natural, it seems to be the one thing they cannot be without. Most of the time it is little more than a brush of hands together but it does the job perfectly well. Slipping from his boxers, Yael curls his fingers about that open hand and joins his companion under the steamy warmth of the shower. He lets Quentin have the front space under the spray, knowing that the other isn't as used to the ache of muscles as he is.

Today, weather aside, has been a good day.


	3. Drained

I had no idea when they would finally give me the okay to head back into the library to help them. I mean, it wasn't up to them to decide when I felt good enough to head back but I didn't mind so much. I spent most of my first week mostly sleeping and recovering and I had to wonder a few times if someone—Mira, I'm sure—wasn't giving me my meds through the juices he was bringing me to keep me hydrated. I can't blame him for wanting to make sure I wasn't feeling too much pain though I didn't really want to take those meds myself. I didn't want to develop an addiction to them.

Now that I'm beginning to feel better, I don't honestly feel a need to keep on taking my meds, not because I still don't want to but because I really feel as though the pain has lessened enough that I don't need them. I guess it's a good sign that I'm not going to get addicted to them, a perfectly good and wonderful sign.

On this one particular morning thought, smack dab in the middle of the week, Mira took a good look at me as I got out of the shower and deemed me in good enough condition to come with them if I felt like helping. Of course I felt like helping, I just spent something close to a week if not a little more stuck in bed, mostly sleeping and healing up, I wanted out of the house as it was and into the crisp autumn air.

My bruises were fading well though now they were an ugly sort of yellow-green, it wasn't a pleasant sight and I tried not to think too much about it. I hadn't seen Niall since the incident and that was for the best. I wasn't sure how I'd handle seeing him at all at this point in my life. It wasn't the first time he'd beaten me, he actually would do it now and again while we were growing up, just because I needed to know what it was like to be an adult. I never understood what he was trying to do, in the end so I guess it didn't much matter.

We shared a quick breakfast, I put on some warmer clothes and I offered to drive them there since I was now deemed well enough to get about. Armin looked somewhat doubtful but Mira seemed to bring him around. The twins sat in the back, Armin on the passenger seat on my right and I managed the drive just perfectly well, getting us to the library in record time. Agni mumbled something about how this was so much better than taking the bus but he was ignored by the other two so I let it be too though the thought amused me.

  


The day went by so much faster than I had expected it to at all. It wasn't that there were a lot of people but there was a somewhat constant if sort of slow flow. There were books to be put away, new books to scan and unpack and making sure we weren't in the way of the guys working the electricity. Not that they were in the way themselves but I've grown up so used to seeing this place in a semi-constant state of almost disrepair that it's strange to see anyone at all in here working to fix up the issues.

By the time noon had come around, Armin had offered for me to have a bit of a rest in the back room but I stubbornly stayed on my feet. I wasn't going to just sit back and close my eyes while they were working hard out there I'd already done that for the past week and I was set in my ways, I wasn't going to slack.

I knew I wasn't strong enough or healed enough to really start looking for a new job but that would come soon enough. I supposed it was why I was so intent on working as hard as them to get make sure the library was in perfectly good shape and people could enjoy their time with us.

When the key was in the lock and we were heading back towards my car, all I wanted was to sleep. I knew I'd pushed myself a little harder than I should have but I felt no real pain, just an exhaustion that was all physical. I was absolutely drained but it felt good. Mira looked a little worried at the idea that I'd be driving them home and mentioned we could take the bus and get my car back in the morning. I shook my head and got behind the wheel.

I've never been in a car accident and it wasn't going to start now. I got everyone home in one piece, the car parked and I stayed behind the wheel for a few minutes. I think I nearly dozed off but Agni helped me out of the seat and along with Mira at my other side, they walked me up to their apartment where, when they sat me down on the couch, I promptly drifted off.

I don't know how long I slept, just that I did sleep at least a little. What I recall is someone lightly shaking my shoulder and my eyes trying to focus on the face of whoever it was. After a few moments, my vision cleared and Agni snickered softly at the sight of me. "That was a good day, an exhausting one by the looks of you but a good day. Come on, we decided it was about time you had my bed and I took the couch. We've got some finger food waiting for you in there too if you feel like eating."

On cue, my stomach rumbled loudly and I did laugh. It felt good to laugh and only feel a small bit of the pain that had been nagging me all of the previous week, it was still present but barely unfelt at this point.

I did let him walk me to his bedroom though I still felt bad for taking their beds from them, even if we were rotating. "Maybe I should use that apartment across the hall, I really don't want to be using your bed or Mira's own."

Agni shrugged, stepping away when I was sitting on the edge of his bed. "Or you could use Zora's bed. We don't really go in there but there's nothing of hers left and the dresser out in the living room is hers. The sheets are clean, we changed them when she left and that's mostly been that."

It was tempting, at least I wouldn't be keeping you or your brother from your rightful beds. Maybe we can talk it over, all three of us? I've had some rest, I think I can survive staying awake for a bit more." 

I rubbed my eyes as if to prove a point, I could still feel the pull of sleep trying to tug me deeper but I was doing all I could to ignore it at this point. I did want to talk to them about that option. It would feel strange to be sleeping in her bed but it was better than sleeping in theirs and keeping them from it. The couch was comfortable but I couldn't imagine it as a long-term thing, plus, the idea of being in an apartment this big on my own honestly made me uncomfortable.

"I'll go get him if he's not too busy doing you-know-what. We can talk it over but I don't mind you sleeping in my bed and I know Mira didn't mind you sleeping in his either. It's just how we go about things, we share and we offer." He smiled and disappeared out of the bedroom, leaving me to ponder how well I'd do in that extra bedroom.


	4. Plastic Wrap

"Mira! Come and get this devil thing off of me!" I had to yell, I didn't know where my brother was and I knew Cyrille was in the shower. Plus it didn't seem quite right to bother him for that kind of thing but bothering Mira was something else altogether, we were brothers and we were born to bother one another. Okay, I don't really believe that but it didn't feel right to ask Cyrille for help with this.

"Miraaaaaa!" I knew how whiny my voice sounded at that point, absolutely childish but I was stuck with this plastic wrap piece of crap and I wasn't even sure of where it had come from how or I'd managed what I had managed at all. I'd just been trying to cover this one particular dish and I just, I don't know. 

I'm not even sure on why we had plastic wrap in the house at all. We'd never used it before, we have enough containers for everything we might want to put away but here I was, absolutely stuck and wondering why we'd bothered with that thing to begin with.

Eventually, Mira stepped out of his room, his cheeks lightly flushed and seeming slightly out of breath. I grumbled at him, holding my wrapped hands together. He took a long look and I knew by his face that he was trying hard not to laugh. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, it looked like someone had tried to tie my down with the stuff. I tried to tear it up from the inside but it wouldn't budge.

"Why did you try to burn it off?" He murmured the words as he stepped closer to me, trying to find out where it ended so he could unwrap it.

"Have you ever had to smell burning plastic? It's not much different and I don't know, it didn't cross my mind, I'm trying to behave like most folks out there, you know that's how we're supposed to." He nodded, looking the wrapping over again and he shook his head. He went to look for the scissors, coming back with our slightest pair.

"Now don't budge, I know you won't but I prefer to tell myself I told you to, in case you do." He carefully slipped the blade near my wrist and snipped the first cut into the wrap. He pulled the scissors away and I gave it a little tug, still no go.

He put the scissors back along the first cut and he carefully started snipping away at the devil plastic. That was how I was going to call it from now. Eventually, he made it to a point where he didn't feel confident he could snip without hurting me so he pulled the scissors away and set them down.

I gave my hands a tug and felt a bit more room. It was a start. I started trying to part my hands, I wiggled them, I twisted them and eventually I managed to work one hand free, then the other. Once loose, I crumpled the wrap together, muttered at it and threw it in the recycling bin since I knew it wasn't the kind of stuff that went into the trash.

"Why do we even have that stuff?" He shrugged at me and I sighed, rubbing my hands somewhat together.

"What were you trying to do anywhere? We have covers for just about everything in this kitchen except the regular dishes." I sighed and motioned towards one container as it sat there, just open as if in accusation. Inside, I'd put a mix of cheese and grapes, preparing snacks for our next day at the library.

"I know what you're going to say, this one has a cover, the other two had covers and they're in the fridge but I looked high and low to try to find this one's cover and I couldn't. I didn't really want to transfer it into another bowl since I'd already dirtied this one."

He frowned and bent to look in the cupboard where we kept our covers, he pulled out the large container and dug through it, looking left and right, under over and everywhere and, much as my own search had turned out to be, he came up empty handed. "That is so strange."

"What's so strange?" We both looked up, startled by Cyrille's voice, I had thought him still in the shower but I guess he wasn't, not that it was a bad thing, really.

"We're trying to find the cover for this one bowl, I found the other two for it but the third one seems to be missing." He looked over to the bowl in question, one hand holding the towel about his waist. It was good to see the bruises fading from him though it seemed to take forever.

"Oh." He blinked and actually blushed somewhat, smiling sheepishly. "Have you looked in the dishwasher? I did notice you guys tend to wash dishes as you go but I guess it might have slipped my mind, when I used it I ended up putting the top in the dishwasher."

I blinked, first at his answer, then at him and at Mira. My brother looked into the dishwasher and there, lo and behold, there it was, the necessary cover I'd been missing, looking as clean as could be.

"Yeah, we don't really use the dishwasher and I suppose it might explain why we didn't think to look in it." I looked him over, mostly to see just how well he was healing. He must have caught me looking because he blushed, ran a hand through his hair and excused himself to go back to his room, Zora's old room, to change.

Finally I looked at Mira, my curiosity finally getting the better of me. "Why were you out of breath when you came out of your room? It's not like you were out running a marathon."

He blushed, oh how deeply he blushed and he ducked his gaze, avoiding my eyes. I didn't push for an answer, I figured that in time he'd feel like telling me what this might have been all about and I was in no rush at this point. 

"Oh fine, you just keep it to yourself." I laughed, having a fair idea but still leaving it to him to decide on when he might want to tell me about whatever it was that left him breathless when he joined me to help with the devil's item.

I looked at the box of plastic wrap on the counter, then to him and the box again. "Do we really have to keep this stuff?"

He shrugged, looking at the box for a brief moment. "It could have its use, if not in the kitchen. I mean, I figure it could have its uses, I'm just not sure what those uses might be. Might as well leave it there, I don't even know how it got there in the first place." It was an option, I figured. He was right though, it might just eventually have a use of sort and it would be pointless to throw it away now that we had it, even if we currently really had no use whatsoever for it.

"All right, well the snacks for tomorrow are ready, Cyrille has had his shower, you've had whatever it is you were doing, I think it's my time for a shower and now that my hands are free, I can at least try to appreciate that time to a point." My words seemed to bring out his blush a little more and I did wonder about that. Maybe it was the mention of 'alone time' or that my hands were free, I didn't know, I didn't ask, but I did wonder.

"You two decide on what to prepare for dinner since I prepared the snack." He quirked a brow at me and I merely stuck my tongue out to him before I was wandering off towards the bathroom. I felt I deserved that shower, really.


	5. the hunt for __________

We've been looking for hours. We're both aware that once we finish searching through one area, she might move from where she was and into that new area, though with the little meows she offers now and again, we'd like to believe she's actually stuck somewhere. We've tried shaking the treat tin, all but her came rushing our way, we've tried the catnip container and the same result happened.

I don't know what to do and I don't know where to look anymore. I'm exhausted just thinking about looking for her some more but we both know that we have to find her. She wouldn't be meowing if she wasn't stuck in some places. Eventually, after another treat-shake and no response, I let myself collapse against one of the walls. I didn't know what to think anymore.

Quentin stepped closer, stepping over cats hoping for treats since we'd just more or less announced that we were giving out treats though we really were just trying to find Astra. "We'll find her, really. She can't be far, we've made sure that all the doors everywhere were closed and she was with us last night, we haven't gone outside. She can't be far."

It wasn't all that comforting though I knew he was doing his best. I was scared to no end that something was going to happen to her if she wasn't found soon. She probably had no access to food or water where she was from and that was just something else added to the top of all those worries that were gnawing away at me.

Just then, however, a soft meow sounded. I shifted my weight and I looked up towards the stairs leading to the second floor, the door was ajar. I wasn't sure how I hadn't noticed it before but my heart took a leap right into my throat. Had I left any windows open up there? I couldn't recall though it shouldn't have changed much, all of them had screens on them and even though she might have tried she shouldn't have been able to get out.

Plus, that little noise of hers hadn't been all that far away. I found something akin to relief flooding me though I knew it would be short lived. Once we found her, I'd worry that I hadn't realized the door was open and that any of the other cats could have gotten in there and destroyed who knew what. I was a worrywart and it was my price to pay for this life on the planet. That's how I saw it, in any case.

Quentin was looking up the stairs too and I knew he'd noticed the door. He was moving up before I'd gotten back to my feet and he slipped inside, closing the screen door. When I made it up moments later, I opened and closed that door myself, double-checking to be sure it was latched and actually locked.

I still had the tin of treats in hand so I gave it a shake and went quiet. It was silent for a moment before we heard a little meow coming from the far end of the building. That was the area where most of the bigger plants grew though it was also where I kept the cacti. My heart caught in my throat again as we tried to follow the sounds. I didn't dare shake the tin too often by fear that she was stuck between the cacti and was hurting herself trying to get out.

It turned out to not be the case.

When we made it to the 'tree' area of the garden, I looked up and there she was, sitting on a semi-high branch, looking piteously down at us. It wasn't that high a jump but I couldn't recall ever seeing her jump from much of anywhere, let alone even just the cat condos and trees that were actually taller than this, she could climb up them but when she got stuck at the top she always started meowing to be taken down. Astra was our no-jump cat. I didn't love her any less for that.

I handed Quentin the tin and I carefully stepped forward. I reached up and there, my fingers curled around her and pulled her down without a single hitch. Relief swelled in my chest as I hugged her securely to me and I closed my eyes, telling myself I really had to make sure to never again leave that door unchecked.

Quentin petted the top of her head lightly when I stepped closer, she purred deeply, nestled as close as she could manage. We both walked back out of the garden area, Quentin stepping out second and checking the door once then a second time to make sure it was closed and secured.

Once we were back on the second floor, I carefully set her down and she looked up at me expectantly. I suppose some treats were bound to be expected, we'd shaken the tin quite often in our search of her and the other cats were all still close enough too. Caelan ran over the moment Astra was down and more or less bowled her over. I laughed, feeling the relief settle a bit more securely in my bones and I shook my head.

  


"I still don't know how it happened, Quentin." Later, settled in bed, my mind still had refused to let go of the whole deal and I knew it would bother me for a while more still, it was inevitable though it was as annoying as it was inevitable.

He shrugged gently next to me and reached out, his hands settled on my shoulder, he massaged them for a moment and I felt some tension ease out of my muscles, almost out of my bones. "I know I made sure it was closed and latched so unless she slipped past me when I did my morning check up, I don't know how she got in."

I knew it wasn't during the morning check up, the door had been ajar, which meant I had forgotten to close it in some ways. I closed my eyes with a low sigh, fingers tugging at my hair in frustration though after a moment I stopped and looked up. A laugh escaped me as my mind settled on one particular thought. "Maybe it's my helper spirit. Remember a while back I was sure there was something up there in the garden with me? Something I couldn't see?"

He might have nodded but I couldn't see, he did breathe a soft note to let me know that he remembered what I was talking about. It was good to know I wasn't all that crazy. Though it didn't make sense, why open the door at all and cause a potential accident? I frowned and tried to will my mind to let go of everything so I could manage some sleep. I knew it wasn't going to happen but it still was worth the try.

Quentin carefully moved away from me and tugged on the curtains about the bed, letting them flow down over along the sides. The material was so light that it did seem as though they always floated on their own in one direction of the other. He was so gentle when he gathered it all back up in the mornings to set it up along the hooks we'd installed on the bed's posts.

I sighed at the sight of the curtains he'd worked on and created from scratch and I closed my eyes. It was beautiful, even in my mind and I let my thought latch onto that sight over anything and everything else. I knew that if I focused on this beauty, on this particular memory, I would have an easier time resting.

Smiling, he settled next to me again, opening his arms for me and I settled against him, pleased for the closeness and the contentment that filled me then. I would worry about the rest of the world tomorrow.


	6. Community

Lately, on the walks I took with the twins after work to manage some strength back into my bones and some energy back into my body, we've been spotting other teenagers, usually sporting one of those jackets with the reflective stripes, wandering around with a stick with a sharp end and a bag in one hand. I've seen them before and I knew what they were though the twins were puzzled at the sight of these teenagers walking around, picking up trash like that.

I told them that, now and again, some teenagers were caught doing things they shouldn't like shoplifting—Mira shuddered slightly beside me at that mention—and they were given community service. They had to do certain things, like trash pick up or even homeless feeding, for a certain number of hours and then that was that. At least, that's what I knew about the subject, Élodie had done community service before and she'd whined and complained about it all along, she'd not even learned the point of it.

"Are you sure you want to walk all the way there and back? It's a pretty long walk and you looked ready to sleep when we got home." Mira's quiet voice broke through my thoughts and I blinked down at him a moment. It was a good question. I looked up to 'all the way there' which wasn't that far in my opinion though my tiredness tried to tell me otherwise and I nodded.

"It's not that far, it really is just two more blocks off and I need to get this one soothing cream I know they sell, my body aches but now it's all in my muscles and this cream will help and I'm not just sending the two of you off in an errand for me without some effort on my part." I shrugged, offering him a smile. He looked doubtful but let it be. The sky still was mostly clear, the library had had to close early today, one of the rare times, because the electrician had needed to work in places where people were constantly wandering and he couldn't really manage with everyone there.

"I just don't want you to overexert yourself, Cyrille." I knew that much and it was absolutely sweet. I took his hand in mine and squeezed it as a thank you for his worrying about me. He blushed and ducked his head, I snickered and looked over to Agni, walking on the other side of me. He looked a little puzzled but I was more amused thank anything else. I took his hand in turn and there I was, walking down the street, hand in hand with these amazing twins. Three guys walking holding hands, that was worth trying just to see how people would react.

Some people steered clear, others gave us dirty looks but not once did either of them try to pull their hands from mine. People could think what they wanted and that was it, I didn't care about what they thought though I figured maybe the twins did. I would apologize to them later, more than likely when we got back.

Across the street from where we stopped, in front of the small natural-remedies pharmacy, a teenager, he looked no older than fourteen, was sweeping trash into a portable little bin. More and more, I saw kids seemingly on community service and I had to wonder. I suppose it might have been the area. I grew up in the rich and fancy neighbourhood, where they lived now certainly wasn't it though it wasn't the worst area in town either. It was a little sad, really.

"You guys want to come in or am I trusted enough to get in and out by myself?" I had to ask the question really. Mira blushed again, looking absolutely sheepish and Agni shrugged. I released their hands, knowing I couldn't actually walk home the way I'd walked here since I'd have my bag to carry though there were some chances that one of them might offer to carry it, and I slipped inside with a yawn.

I did feel completely worn, exhausted to little bits. My body was killing me though that might have just been because I'd overdone it during the day with the books, I'd gone up the ladders to place books up where no one else really cared to go. I wanted to be better, I wanted to stop limping about and stop being babied though I didn't mind that last one.

I looked around until I found the one thing I was looking for, I took three of them as I had a feeling I'd go through the first two rather rapidly. The guy behind the counter gave me a slightly surprised look but he didn't say anything else, he bagged up my purchase, put in those little extras he always puts in there as samples and I paid before I was on my way back out the door.

I've only spoken to the owner of this place once or twice, I've seen him with some other tattooed guy now and again but that's about it. He's nice from what I've managed to discuss with him and that's all that matters. I don't really care what kind of folks he spends time with.

Stepping back outside, I stretched, wincing slightly. I yawned and looked between the twins again. They were watching the kid with his broom across the street, he looked morose, as if this was the worst thing in life he could have ever hoped to do.

"Time to head back before I sleep out on the ground, yes?" I murmured the words, hoping not to startle them. Agni reached for my bag before I could say anything and he took it. He set it to his wrist and took my hand again. Something warmed in me and I laughed gently. It was so strange but I couldn't complain. I really did see these two as I would some sort of brothers. That is not to say I couldn't grow interested in them in a physical sense but I'm not really interested in that at this point.

On the other side of me, Mira snagged my other hand and we walked, peacefully hand in hand, back home. We made it back without a single hitch and I didn't feel too exhausted or too worn. It was surprising considering how I'd felt when I stepped out of that shop. I briefly wondered if it was because there was some connection between the two of them and since I'd been in the middle I'd been given a bit of a boost but I let that one drop as it made little to no sense.

Once inside, I took my bag back and I briefly disappeared into the bedroom that had become mine to put them away. I came back out a few moments later, just one tube of the ointment in hand, feeling several shades of sheepish. Mira had settled into the kitchen to see what they might prepare so I went to see Agni who was looking through his video games.

"I don't mean to be a bother and you might not even want to do this but I can't honestly rub this thing into my back or my shoulders or, well you know. You think you'd be okay with helping me it?" I was hopeful, I really was. I didn't know how else I'd get this natural stuff rubbed into my aching muscles. I had less issues about natural medicine than I did the hospital stuff so I wasn't worried about an addiction being created.

After some pondering, he smiled at me, his eyes bright and amused and he walked me out of his room and off into the living room so we wouldn't be too much out of sight of Mira to not leave him wondering what we were doing. It seemed mostly natural, really. I'd do my legs after he did my back, it was the part of my that ached the most at this point and relief sounded absolutely wonderful.


	7. Packing Up His Gear

I don't care much for the idea of going back to clients to fix up their delivered pieces because somehow they couldn't handle them properly or they hadn't put them up in a place that had been cool enough to keep them from melting. Especially when those calls came in past a certain hour in the evening as it had the previous night. I'd just delivered my biggest piece of the month, it had taken me two days of near no rest to get it done because of the sheer amount of detail there was to it. I delivered it, the client looked pleased as could be and a few hours later, I was receiving a call to complain that some of the detail wasn't right.

I asked them to know when they needed the piece done and I was given an hour in the mid-morning of the following day, so I told them I would stop be in the early morning to fix up the problem. Usually I didn't bother with this because most of my pieces are sold as-is and I sent clear photos of the finished product before delivering so they could confirm it was as they liked, but the woman was the friend of a friend, she was marrying said friend though I hadn't really spoken to him in some years. It was a little more difficult to say 'no'.

After the call came, I gathered my working gear as it was, my carving tools mostly. There wasn't anything else I could do while the piece was delivered. I was no miracle maker. Eoghan watched me pack everything up and flopped with a low whine on the slight seater closest to my working room. "I'll be going in the morning, tonight I'm not going anywhere and we're not leaving the bedroom. I promised you that much and I'm keeping my promise to you."

He smiled at me, his eyes bright and adoring and that more or less set my mind. Even if I'd decided to go tonight, I would more than likely have delayed going. Last time a customer had called because the final piece wasn't exactly like they'd wanted, I'd gone, oh I had and when I came in the tried to entice me to join their party. That wasn't about to happen and I wasn't the type. Though I later learned that just after I'd left, another guy came in and it was the stripper they'd hired so I supposed they might have mistaken me for the guy. It still hadn't exactly been pleasant.

  


When morning came, just as the sun was starting to peek from behinds slight clouds, I dropped all my equipment into the car and I went on my way. I suppose it could be considered ironic that I'm not much a people's person. It takes a while before I feel comfortable enough being around other people to want to trust them. Considering what I usually did for a living when I was not in the process of taking care of chocolate, it could be strange.

I knocked on their door and it was the groom, the old friend, who opened it. He looked slightly tired but he perked up when he recognized me. He stepped out fully and closed the door for a moment, he shivered and murmured an apology. "I recall what you'd told me years ago that you didn't like to do house calls for fix-ups like these and I know that this is likely something you would have wanted to avoid. She loves it, she really does but when she compared the original piece, her dress, and the chocolate one, she saw that some of the details were different and she just started complaining and just, well you know."

He shrugged, looking helpless for a few moments and I shrugged in turn, managing the ghost of a smile. "It's fine, Hugh, let's just head inside before you catch a cold. I'll do what I can't but I'm no miracle worker."

"I know and I'm grateful you're here though I told her you wouldn't come, she insisted." Women tend to be like that, from experience, at least most of the women I'd met who were getting ready to get married, I supposed it was one of those things.

"Just lead me to the piece and I'll see what I can do."

"You're the best, Lex."

I didn't really consider myself 'the best', I was just someone who kept himself busy with things that didn't bother him too much, kept busy with certain ways of lives that didn't get tiresome after a decade or two. I'd known people who had picked a certain job to do and after a few years they were absolutely sick of that particular job because they hated it.

When he led me to the piece I'd delivered just the day before, I first noticed that it had been tampered with. Someone had tried to 'fix it up' using whatever means they'd tried. It wasn't ruined but it wasn't the piece I had dropped off. I looked it over while Hugh hovered behind me, almost worried that I might not be able to at least fix it up to a point. 

"You have kids around, Hugh?" He blinked at the question, his face growing warm though he nodded slightly. "I'm thinking that someone didn't keep this out of a kid's reach because what I'm seeing here isn't what I delivered. I can try to fix it up, I'll do my best but I should be charging you for this because I'm not fixing up something I failed to do properly, I'm fixing up what someone else mucked with."

He started apologizing but I shook my head and told him it was fine, I supposed that for this once I could at least try to be lenient, he was getting married in just a few hours and he looked frazzled. I didn't know if all grooms were like this but I wondered if it was the best of decisions for him. Not that it was my place to ask him about that.

I took out my tools, set them out along the counter and I fixed up the sculpted chocolate as best as I could. I was rather proud of myself when I stepped back. It wasn't an exact replica of the photo set up next to it but it was the best I could do after it had been handled by whoever had more or less destroyed the first finished product.

He looked at it and his eyes widened before they warmed. He smiled at me and I could tell he was relaxing. I could only assume that his soon-to-be might have been the ones making the decision in this relationship. It was a shame, he'd been a much more outgoing man than this before though I supposed that not everyone could find the perfect match.

"All right, I'm done, I'll show myself out." He still was staring at the fixed piece, gratitude almost pouring off of him. "Try to keep the kids away from it this time, I can't come out here to fix it again before the big hour comes by, Hugh."

He nodded, still staring at the sculpted copy of his soon-to-be and I slipped out of the door and into the sun's warm embrace. The air was still cool, cold almost but the sun was warm enough that it was almost comfortable to be outside at this point.

On the way home, I stopped for some flowers, feeling no true need for them but telling myself that Eoghan could appreciate them now that I was back home and not working in an environment I wasn't all that comfortable working in. The best place for chocolate making was my working studio and that was that, no one was going to change my mind on that one little fact.


	8. Pizza Delivery

As they quietly walk, side by side, one bag each and hands held between them, Yael looks around at their surroundings. It isn't that he doesn't know what the neighbourhood looks like but he always seems to discover something new nearly every time they stepped out to get a few more groceries to fill in their pantry. Not that they needed much, of course, not with the garden on the second and third floor of their home.

A car drives past them as they continue on their way and Yael looks at it a long moment, trying to make out the sign that sits atop of it. He stops walking as he does, following the car with his eyes until it stops a few paces away from him, parking in front of a slight apartment building.

Quentin stops with him, more interested in knowing why they had stopped over what the car might be, with its strange roof decoration. Yael tugs on his hand to gather his attention and Quentin looks over. He chuckles and shakes his head somewhat. "Just a delivery man," he looks at the design on the door a little closer, "pizza delivery to be more precise."

Yael blinks and frowns before he starts walking again, his curiosity mostly sated. "But why would anyone want pizza delivered when it's so easy to just prepare it at home?"

The irony is somewhat ever present as for tonight's meal, pizza had been set on the menu. Quentin chuckles at the thought and he shrugs lightly. "I don't know, love. Some people just don't have the cooking skills required to make pizza. It's not much different from the people who order take out of any sort, chicken, fish or even sushi. We might not take it on delivery but when we go and buy sushi, it's not all that different from the person who ordered pizza tonight."

Thoughtful, Yael continues walking though he shakes his head after a few moments. "We only got sushi once, since then I buy the ingredients and I make them myself."

That as a whole, was a truth. Yael's habit was to try things he didn't know once by getting it from the restaurant, then he tried to prepare it at home as best as he could. Not everything came out as it should but it was the thought that counted and that he was willing to try it.

"You wonder about the strangest of things, love." Quentin laughs softly, tugging on Yael's hand to make sure they keep on walking. They're just a few blocks away from home and he does want to get the preparing of their meal. While Yael prepares the dough, he tends to keep to cutting up whatever they'll be putting on the pizza and shredding their mix of cheeses.

  


"We've come a long way, if you think about it." Things are put away in the pantry to others are pulled out as they work side by side, Quentin starting on the three different cheeses they bought, shredding them finely.

"How have we come a long way?" Around his ankles, one slim feline roams and meows for attention, wanting some of whatever it is they are preparing. Yael laughs and shakes his head as he works the dough by hand though he knows he very well could use the mixer. He doesn't like the idea of not preparing his dough himself.

Quentin shrugs, looking down to Izar as he weaves between Yael's leg and then moves to his own. He's learned to not move around too much in the kitchen unless it is a necessity and then, well it seems as though the cats know that they need to keep away. "I didn't much know how to prepare fancy meals when I first met you and I know you didn't even know how a kitchen worked."

With a slight shrug, Yael sets the dough into a bowl and covers it to let it rise. "Well, living in the streets was just one of those things and I guess you had a better mind than me. I never could find a job and hold it long enough to get enough money to get me anywhere. I'm just glad we're where we are now."

They continue to work in quietness. While the dough rises, Yael helps with the vegetables and Quentin turns to slightly sautéing their meat, the thinly sliced sausages that might need more than just the required time in the oven for the dough to cook and the cheese to melt. By the time the dough has risen, they have all of their ingredients set out in separate bowls, ready to be dropped haphazardly on the dough.

  


The pizzas come out beautifully golden from the oven and they are set out on the counter where they are cut and set to plates for serving. "We should totally try to get Eoghan to do one of the next suppers here, we could make several different pizzas, with toppings from all over the world, I think it could be interesting."

"Or we just bring all the ingredients over and prepare them there." Yael laughs softly, taking a bite with a content note. Home made always does taste better to him though it might be bias and he knows it. "We could do it a bit like a buffet, a small dough base for everyone and they decide what they want on it. Then we set them in the oven and everyone has exactly what they might want and we probably had tons of leftover."

"You and leftovers." Snickering, Quentin rolls his eyes as Yael sticks his tongue out.

"I can't help it, I love preparing meals out of leftovers, it gives me a chance to discover new things and new tastes and you've never complained about anything I might have prepared before."

"True, you win." Not that any of the discussion is about winning but it tends to change the direction in which it was going.

The rest of the meal goes by in relative quiet, only a few comments exchanged on how this and that goes well together and how they should keep notes of it.

Once all the dishes are cleaned and everything is put away, the pair move off towards the living room where they settle, side by side, to relax and digest their meal. On the way, Yael takes the catnip container and gives it a shake, a relieved sort of sigh escaping him when all seven of them come running their way. Since the incident with Astra being caught up in the garden area and up that tree, he's made it his job to shake that container at least once a day and make sure all of their four-legged friends come running.

He still has yet to really understand how she managed to get up int he garden but he tries not to focus on it too much, knowing that turning back time is simply not a possibility though it would be a nice touch now and again.

He drops catnip here and there, enough for all seven of them to enjoy and then left his feet off of the ground, folding his legs besides himself on the couch. Cat teeth and claws on his toes is less than pleasant and he learned early on that catnip made them very playful and very likely to take a gnaw at whatever is closest to them. Quentin does the same, chuckling as he shifts, looking down at the mess and almost tangle of cats as they bat about to try to get the most of the catnip before it was all gone.

"I think, once they calm down, that some tea might be a fair idea. It'll warm us up just fine." Quentin's words are thoughtful as he keeps on looking down at their cats. Yael nods, shifting to lean closer to his shoulder. Quentin knows he can't really ask for anything else in this world, he has someone to share his life with, a roof over his head and food three times a day as might be necessary, he's luckier than a lot of souls out there.


	9. A New Car

I've watched him drive that car around back and forth a while, when he still was with his sister and now that he's with us. He drove well but that car always left me feeling as if it might be moments from falling apart and that was just one of those things that offered me no comfort considering that when he drove everyone to the library, there were four of them in all and if something were to happen, I didn't think I'd forgive myself.

Recently, I'd let it be because he still was healing, when he came home with the twins he always looked ready to collapse and it didn't seem a right time to take him out and about to look for a new car. I wasn't thinking brand new spanking car but a somewhat used car that looked to be in better condition would have made me feel better.

On the Friday following his first full week of time spent at the library with the others, I told them I had plans for Saturday and that I'd need Cyrille with me, so to please not wear him out too much. To my amusement, to most everyone's amusement really, the twins blushed deeply and I snickered. Cyrille only rolled his eyes but told me he'd do his best to be in good shape. He mentioned something about how they'd gone to this one herbal medicine shop some blocks off to get an ointment to help with the soreness of his healing muscles and it was doing absolute wonders.

By mid-morning, when I had figured out that plenty of rest had been gotten—I am a morning person but I wasn't sure about Cyrille—I was up and about, I was dressed and I was knocking on their door. Cyrille is the one who opened it, bright-eyed and smiling, looking much better than he had even just a week ago when he'd still been limping uncomfortably. He called out to the twins to tell them he'd be back eventually and we stepped to the elevator and then outside.

"Now I'm not going to twist your arm or force you to do anything, I'm saying this as someone who worries about your health and that of your passengers." I paused as he still kept to my pace though I wasn't walking quickly. I led us to the smaller car Lex and I shared to get around. 

"Your car is old. I know it was your sister's before it was yours and it's likely that there's an emotional connection but I think you realize this as much as I do that your car is in poor condition and it has seen better days." He tilted his head as he sat in the passenger side and I slipped behind the wheel. He glanced at his car as we eased by it and I got us to the street.

"I guess you have a point, it has seen a lot of years and a lot of traveling. It wasn't new when Magali got her hands on it and she couldn't really take care of it much." He sighed, a soft little sound and I knew he was trying to wrap his mind around the fact that we were going to replace it.

I drove in silence until I stopped by the first and main dealership in the city. The place had old and new, all in pretty good condition. "I'm not saying we're going to pick a brand new car. That one is completely up to you. I'm just saying that you could keep the old car and try to fix it up if you want but a somewhat newer car might just be safer for you, Armin and the twins."

He nodded, thoughtful and I offered him a smile. "I know what it's like to change your car, especially when the one you're trading in has a lot of sentimental value. At first you really don't want to but eventually you manage to wrap your mind about how it was a good idea and how now you're a lot less likely to stall somewhere dangerous."

He offered another nod and we got out of the car. I didn't lead him anywhere, I let him decide where he was going, it was his decision and I kept the sellers a few paces so he could have all the time in the world to really make up his mind without the pressure of someone trying to get him to buy.

On the way home, I followed him, curious to watch how he handled this new car more than anything else. A foreign model, four door, a beautiful sort of midnight blue. It was a good choice. It had a few years' worth of use but it ran so much more smoothly than his old one did. Once back home and the car parked up front since his old one was in the spot he'd eventually use again, he got out and looked the car over again.

There was a bit of sadness to his eyes as he touched the cooling vehicle. He looked up to me, a sheepish smile offered and I only shrugged. "It's never really easy, Cyrille, we get attached to a lot of things in our lives."

He laughed, the first I've honestly heard him laugh since I first saw him at the hospital and it warmed me. It felt good to know he felt well enough to laugh. "Here's an idea, I know it's still essentially your sister's car, how about you drive it back home and I follow you so I can get the both of us back? That way, it'll sleep in the garage as it should and if someone at your house wants to try to fix it up, they can?"

He looked thoughtful, his gaze moved to the car in question. After a few moments he nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. "That might be for the best. Once that's done I can call in to places I need to, to get the paperwork, the insurance and the rest."

So I got back into my car, he got into his old one and again I followed him. Not because I didn't know the way but because I felt better being behind him, just in case someone went terribly wrong with the car though I had a feeling it wouldn't really have happened.

Once at his home, I parked outside and let him input the code, drive the car inside. He came back out after a few minutes. He looked a little torn but I figured it would eventually pass on its own. I offered him a smile as he settled back into the passenger side and started on the way back home. "It gets better, I promise."

He laughed, oh he laughed until he actually held his ribs with a couple of tears at his eyes. "That just sounds so corny, I'm sorry. I feel like I've just buried one of my oldest friends and I know it's not really right to feel that way. I've known for years I was in need of a new car, I Just really didn't want to because I was attached to Magali's rust bucket."

I chuckled and shook my head, parking up into my usual space once I got us home. He got out, moved to his car and saw to parking it right next to mine. We blocked the other two vehicles from use but they weren't used that often and we knew we could just move either one of the front-parked cars to another spot when the time came.

"I'm glad you're healing up, Cyrille. I was honestly very worried about your well-being when I saw you at the hospital. I might not know you much but what I know is that the twins adore you and they would have been absolutely devastated if you'd no longer been a steady part of their lives. They're not my kids but I feel like they are. I guess that makes you one of my kids too."

He blinked at me, snickering moments later though he smiled and it was a warm, content smile. I knew we were on good terms.


	10. Mining

Settled into Zora's old room, I've emptied the rest of my bag. I know and I recall them saying Eoghan had offered for her to move back in whenever she felt the need but I don't know if that'll ever happen. If she really is dating my brother, he's good at getting them to practically eat out of his hand and not really realize they're doing it. Unless she's really smart about who she dates, she might just not realize it for a while yet and it's her decision at this point. This room is comfortable and while I'd move out of it if she moved back in, I have no real desire to go anywhere just yet. If she comes back, and that might make me selfish, she can use the apartment next door. This is like a roommate switch, she moved out, I moved in, I'm not moving out because she might decide to come back, that's just not how it goes.

In unpacking my things, I located my laptop, bundled between thick blankets. I have no carry-on bag or anything to really move this guy around since I was mostly using around the house so I packed it up snuggly between blankets to make sure it wouldn't get bumped around.

I set it up on the little desk that is against one wall and I plug it up to charge the battery since I have a feeling it probably is completely dead at this point. While it charges, I look through the few emails I've received since I last was able to get on the computer, I look through a few different sites and I head over to one particular site an old pen-pal of sorts keeps on pushing me to try. I've never heard of it and the name just sounds odd. Though I know I can't judge a book by its cover, or a game by its name, so I decide to give it a try.

"What is that exactly?" They're both standing over my shoulders, one on either side as I play through this game, or at least I try. I haven't really gotten anywhere yet and I don't know the point of it. It's not really appealing to me at this point either.

"I'm not sure, it's called Minecraft and I suppose it has to do with mining but it's just not something I'm getting into and all my congratulations to folks who like this game, I bet it's great when it's your kind of thing but it's just not mine." I shrug as the twins study the screen from above my shoulders, each trying to make sense of it.

"Can I try it?" Agni's on my left, I'm not really surprised since he's the one who usually shows more interest in games than Mira. I shrug and I carefully move back and out of my chair, the twins leaning back to give me room. Agni flops down in the chair and I chuckle as he looks at the screen for a long moment. 

"Try not to wander anywhere else. It's not that I don't trust you with my computer but it's old and might not react well to most sites you may usually visit." He nods and I stretch carefully before I'm stepping out of the bedroom, Mira not too far behind me. It felt so strange moving in with these two just two weeks ago. I suppose it might mostly have been because I felt abandoned in a way. I couldn't blame them, they were working and I knew, I still know, that Armin needs all the help he can get.

I've since adapted, that's what I believe in any case. I help them almost every day at the library though I still tire out pretty quickly. Yesterday, I went with Eoghan on whatever errand he wanted to run. It was strange to be with the man one on one but it wasn't such a bad thing in the end. When he started talking about my old car something squeezed in my chest but I didn't focus on it much. I knew he had a point, it was dangerous to drive that thing around. Though it hadn't happened recently, it had before and I'd ended up stranded in the middle of nowhere because it had just stopped.

I looked, I looked and looked. I didn't know what I was looking for but eventually, when my eyes settled on this midnight blue four-door ones with the sunroof and all, I think I'd found the perfect one. I looked it over, checked it up and then, just then, some sales guy came out way. I found that one to be a little weird, they don't usually just let you decide when you feel ready to do anything, they're usually always right there, hawking in on you and staring hard at you until you decide you've picked what you want.

"This thing makes no sense!" Agni suddenly calls out from my bedroom and I laugh softly though I don't really bother to go and check on him. I know he can take care of himself just fine and he can close the game if he doesn't like it. It really is that simple in the end.

Mira looks down the hall a moment and then back to me. I shake my head, he shrugs and goes back to his book. There is such a drastic difference between them but it's mostly visible when you really get to know them. I'm glad they didn't decide to shun me after what my sister did to them. It happened before, she put her moves on a few of the rare friends I'd had before and they walked away after that. Somehow I was blamed for not controlling her. That made no sense.

"Cyrille, that thing makes no sense!" He whines again, loud and clear even through the walls and I snicker again.

"If you don't like it, just turn it off, Agni. No one is forcing you to play the game."

"But it makes no sense!"

"Well stop playing you idiot!" Mira's answer to his brother's complaining makes me snicker again and I shake my head. 

I don't want to lose their friendship, it means more to me than I realized at first. I want out friendship to last and they've already pulled through the first test though it hadn't really been my intention to 'test' them in any way. After all, I met them after the Élodie thing so I think I'm mostly in the clear as far as that is concerned.

I rub my eyes somewhat, looking down to my book before I bookmark the page and I close it. Mira looks up to me briefly, concern flashing in his eyes but I shake my head, smiling at him lightly. "I think I just slept a little poorly last night, that's all. I've been thinking a lot about Magali and she hasn't really been answering any of my questions about her stay with Joana so I might just have to call Jo. I know she won't keep anything from me."

Magali has this bad habit of keeping things from me when she thinks I might not be ready to hear them or to accept them. It makes me worry twice as much about her, which seems completely counterproductive to her trying not to worry me by not telling me.

Mira nods but I know he's only doing it to let me know he grasps the basic idea behind the situation but that the rest of it is muddled for him. It's not all that surprising when I consider how they grew up and how their sister more or less cut them off when she moved out to live on her own so they don't really understand my need to keep up with Magali and her well-being. I don't hold it against them, I never will. We grew up in different ways and we deal with things in different ways, that's all.


	11. Apple Pie

They're everywhere on the counter.

We've had to somehow find means to keep the cats from getting up on said counter to get to them as that would turn out to be a disaster and we'd, well, he'd have to start all over again. He's the one who's been baking these pies all day. Of the three apple trees he has up in the garden, two have decided that now was the time for their apples to be ready and that they needed to be picked now.

So we did. We gathered apples, baskets after baskets and we had so much that even after giving a lot away, we still had more than we knew what to do with. Yael decided it was time he started in on baking and he's been at it since.

Apple pies, applesauce, apple jam, apple butter, you name it. He has several different baskets set out and in those he has a couple of everything he's prepared. We're just waiting on the last of the apple pies to cool down so he can wrap them up, put them in the basket and play delivery-fairies.

It's not all that strange to have too much of something when we get started on the garden, when all the fruits or vegetables from a particular area decide that now they're ripe and all. I have to admit that it's the first time we've had quite that many apples and we've had to find means to do something about them that didn't involve eating too many a day and giving away most of them, which we've done anyway. We even dropped a huge basket off at one of the shelters.

"You sure you want to carry them this way? We do have this little cart-thing Eoghan got us last time we came in with all the baskets of fruit and veggies." He shrugs gently, looking at the baskets. There only are three but they are filled to the brim and I'm more than a little certain that they're too heavy to be carried without us holding onto the bottom so the weight of them doesn't break through. 

Eventually, he sighs but nods, caving in for the time being. I know he likes doing the work himself, he likes carrying the baskets back and forth but at times like these, the wagon, as it's more a small child-wagon than anything else, is a necessity.

We gather the basket, one by one, setting them into the wagon carefully. We put a blanket on top and secure that down since it's gotten windy outside lately.

We step into the foyer, make sure we have no cats with us and close the door, we then step outside, close the second door and we start on the short walk to get us to the other building. I know he usually also takes the stairs but that might just be asking for a broken back and he walks towards the elevator with a gentle huff and grumble. 

We stop at the top floor first. He knocks and grins brightly at Eoghan's slightly surprised face. I don't blame him, just yesterday we dropped off the apples. He gathers up the basket carefully into his arms, holding onto the bottom to make sure it wouldn't come apart in his arms. Eoghan takes it with a puzzled look though he looks over the basket and laughs softly as Yael takes a step back.

"Careful with it, it's so filled that we're not sure whether or not the bottom will hold, so it's best to hold it this way. I think it's the usual for everything, you know what to keep in the fridge and what not to, I hope everything is to your liking."

"Yael, everything you do is always to my liking." He grins, that playful but shit eating grin as Yael blushes and ducks his head. I roll my eyes and tug the wagon back towards the elevator where we stop to drop the basket off. The twins hold it up together, a completely baffled look on their face and Yael explains about the apples, about what should be in the fridge and what can be kept on the counter before we're down to the first floor.

This time I take the basket inside myself since I know Armin wouldn't have been able to. I set it down on his counter and we bid our goodbyes before we're back outside and crossing to our home once again.

"I'm absolutely exhausted." The wagon has been put away, Yael is stretched out on the couch and he's been rubbing his face slightly. I've gone to the kitchen to put away what little was left. He's done most of the baking and cooking since he decided on the apple thing and I've put most things away as he no longer needed them. I don't mind doing my part, it's part of living together after all.

"Well you've worked long and hard to get everything done and I'm amazed to tell you the truth. Apple pies, apple butters, candies, syrup, jam, sauce, it's a lot to do and we've gone through just about all of the extra apples we had too so I think you can congratulate yourself on a job well done."

He laughs but the sound is tired and I step back into the living room to look at him a moment. "How about a cup of tea to relax you? I bet a nap would do you good."

"Apple tea?" It's my turn to laugh. He grins, his eyes bright but tired. I brush my hand over the top of his head and disappear back into the kitchen to see about some chamomile tea. I know it's my best option to make sure he gets at least a little bit of rest before we go anywhere else or even do anything else at all.

I get the water going and join him back into the living room. He lifts himself up slightly and I settle, he drops his head to my lap and closes his eyes. I know it's likely he'll drift right off before the water even has time to be brought to a boil but I don't mind. He needs the rest and I'm not going to keep him from that.

He does drift off before the water beings to even bubble up properly. I carefully move his head from my lap to turn the water off before I'm back at his side. I lift him up, cradling his head against my shoulder and I walk him to our bedroom where I set him on the bed. I slip his shoes off, undressing him down to his underwear before I pull the covers up and over him to keep him warm.

With a sleepy sigh, he rolls over to his side and curls somewhat in on himself, huddling a bit for warmth. I know that before too long, he'll be deep asleep and nothing should wake him. I check the bedroom twice over for cats and I close the door to give him the peace he needs. He's really worked himself almost raw to get all those apple delights prepared and ready so I'm not surprised at how exhausted he is.

I look through the house, making sure I have all cats out and about with me before I settle back on the couch with a book and some quiet music. I don't need much to keep occupied. I could be working on some woven pieces but I don't really feel like doing that just now so a book will do just fine.

Before long I have two cats next to me, one on my lap, one at my ankles. I chuckle but leave them be. I know they're not used to the bedroom door being closed but at times it's a necessity and that's just all there is to that. They'll be fine.


	12. Scissors

I could have gone to the hairdresser, I usually do. I would have, too, but Eoghan mentioned he thought my hair seemed a little long (I was constantly pushing it out of my face) and he offered to snip it up gently. I figured it might not hurt, really. The worse that can happen is it gets snipped a bit too short and I have to grow it back out. That's hardly the end of the world.

Consider me rather surprised when it was Alexis who came knocking on my door this morning. He said that the one thing Eoghan had forgotten to mention was that he wasn't the one doing the snipping. I blinked, I laughed and I let it be. I trust Eoghan and I do trust Alexis. 

I'd even set out a few things, a small, thin-toothed comb, the only pair of scissors I owned though I couldn't imagine they'd do much of a good job. 

Alexis has a small bag in his hands and it leaves me wondering. Of course I don't wonder too long. The moment he steps inside, he opens his little bag and out comes an old towel that he sets down, once that is down he sets one of the bench I'd brought out on it and he tells me to sit. I do. The sun is shining brightly outside and it is pouring inside, I am right in its spot.

He set a hairdresser's cape around me, making sure the buttons are secure and he asks me how much I want off and how much shorter I am hoping to get it.

I admit, all I can do was shrug somewhat. It has been some time since I've last been to the hairdresser and usually they just snip some off until the bangs no longer are in my eyes and that is mostly that. He looks at me for a long moment and the amusing thought that drifts through my mind brings forth a chuckle that pulls a questioning note from him. Again I shrug, cheeks warming up and I duck my head somewhat.

He settles his fingers under my chin to get me to lift my head again and I blink up at him, still feeling several shades of sheepish. "I was just wondering if you'd ever done the hairdressing thing. Eoghan talks but not a whole lot. I know you've mostly done law-jobs and chocolate making over the years but it just seems as though you might know your way around hair."

He is the one to laugh this time, a gentle sound, one not at my expense, I can tell. He shrugs as finally he moves behind me, taking his own scissors and comb to begin shortening my hair just enough. "I haven't but I've been around long enough and I've cut Eoghan's hair often enough that this is almost natural."

Well, that does make sense.

I close my eyes as he moves forward to snip my bangs. I try to breathe mostly through my nose as I'm used to getting hair in my mouth because I admit I tend to breathe with my mouth open now and again, it's not pleasant. The hair in mouth that is.

"You can relax, really." I almost blink at his words but I wait until the snipping stops and he's brushed most of the hairs from my face.

"I tend to breathe with my mouth open with I'm focused on something or trying to figure something out. I've had cut hair in my mouth on countless occasions before and it's not exactly pleasant so I was trying to make sure I kept my mouth shut."

He chuckles, walking around me a little more to make sure he is happy with the result and he nods. "Your hair is a bit like weed, I'd say. Now it's back to being about the length it was when we first saw you in the other building."

Not even a year ago that was, if my hair is weed, I suppose I might have to get into the habit of checking into a hair salon twice a year or so. I like my hair the way it is, it's not in my face, it's not too hard to wash and that's just the way I like it. "Thank you, Alexis."

"I wish you'd call me Lex but I know you won't and I won't force you to. I suppose it's just one of those things."

I blinked at him, laughing lightly. "I was raised to respect my elders, what can I say?"

This, coming from the guy looking up at another guy who looks younger than him. I know he's older than me, by a lot more than I can even imagine but it feels strange because he looks at least four or five years younger than me when he's wearing relaxed clothes. I remember seeing him wearing his suits and tie, he looked a little older than.

He shakes his head, amused, and he packs his things up, including the cape and the towel he'd used for the floor mat. I offer to shake it off for him but he tells me he'll get to it when he gets back upstairs. I don't mind.

I have a look at my reflection in the small mirror I keep by the door and nod, just short enough and I can tell the difference at my nape, no more hair tickling me. I smile up to him and thank him before he steps out and heads for the stairs. I wish I could take the stairs like him.

I watch him until he's completely out of my line of sight and close the door as I turn back to my own apartment. I head off to gather my scissors and my comb, putting those back where they belonged for the time being. With that done, I step towards the back area, just looking out quietly.

The leaves have begun to change, the colours are beginning to shine through. Eoghan hasn't yet decided to put the swing up in storage in the new shed. The table and chairs are still out too. The trampoline is uncovered and I imagine that before too long that will go along with the rest, it'll be covered in some ways and it'll spend its winter in relative safety.

I rub a hand through my hair, marveling at how different just a small cut can make. It has taken a lot less time than I had expected to spend out there however so now I'm mostly stuck inside, just wondering what I'm supposed to be doing with myself. I could go for a walk but to head where? I haven't gone back to the park since the almost accident with the kid crossing the street when he shouldn't have. It's cooler out so I don't know how many parents will bring their kids to the park at this point. I could head up to the top floor though. I still don't swim so well but Eoghan has helped me gain confidence.

Maybe the twins are up there though, swimming with Cyrille. I know not a single one of them is bothered by my legs but I'm not confident enough to be uncovered around them just yet. I shake the idea off and look around my little home again. Of course it's not all that little but it is definitely home.

There is that new book the library received, something I've never read before. I could start in on that. Or I could read the old book sitting carefully in my bedroom. No, I think that reading the new book might be interesting, I don't know what I'm in for and I could do with a new sort of adventure in my life.

With my decision on the new book, I make my way off into my little study, where I keep all of my books except that one old book I cherish more than anything else—that one is in my room—I locate the brand new library book, its cover clean and untouched, I set it under my arm and I head back into the living room. That's still where the sun is shining and that's where I'll get swept away in my new adventure.


	13. Humiliation

After Agni finally gave up on playing Minecraft, still not understanding it any better than I had in the bit of time I'd given it a try, or really caring to learn more, I settled them down in front of their television and looked through their small movie collection to pick out a movie for us to watch. I was aware I very well could have let them decide on something, anything on their own but on some days I just felt the almost urge to teach them about these things, teach them about life in general and some times, using movies, was just one of those useful ways though it wasn't all that common.

I looked and looked but nothing really stood out to me so I did the second best thing I could. I checked their player to make sure I actually could do what I had in mind to and I went back to my room. I found my USB drive and poked around my computer to find one of the few older movies I still had on there. I'd done a major clean up just a few months ago, had only really kept the ones that I still appreciated.

With the movie on the drive and the drive then plugged into their player, I got them started in on the movie, not really knowing what to expect. I wasn't sure if they'd watched black and white before and I was ready to explain at least that much when the movie started.

  


They didn't ask about the black and white, I didn't know whether that was a relief or not. I wasn't very good at explaining things but I always tried my best. They did start asking about the gags though, since this was an old comedy. Not quite old enough to be the silent-movie type but still old enough. Most of the scenes they asked about where from the perspective of the guy who was on the receiving end of the gags, too.

"This guy must really like being humiliated to go through that and still have a smile on his face." At my left, Mira was looking at the screen, almost seeming to study it more than he was watching the movie as a whole. I didn't know if it was his usual way of watching movies since it usually was too dark in Eoghan's movie-room to be able to really notice.

I shrugged, Agni laughed at my right, he was paying attention to the movie as a whole, not so much trying to look through it and understand what was going on, he just found it hilarious when the guy was smacked in the face with the pie. "I don't know, Mira. The general point of the movie is to amuse its watchers. Recent movies are different, the gags are more sophisticated and there's more of a story around it but back then, this was enough to get people laughing."

"I still don't get it." His reply was quiet but honest and he sighed, rubbing his eyes lightly. At least he stayed to watch the whole movie, not really wandering off at any point because he lost interest though I knew he'd lost interest after I failed to really answer his question. I felt bad enough about it but I didn't know what to think at that point.

  


After the movie, I reminded Agni that the gags were for the screen only, that he shouldn't get any ideas about trying those on either one of us because it wouldn't really be all that funny. I knew, Mira had told me about Agni's random desire to try Parkour after he'd see it on the television, that Agni had a habit of desiring first-hand experience in most things he discovered.

Mira wandered off, heading to his room and more than likely his computer. Where Agni often wanted to discover things first-hand, Mira preferred research and I didn't fault either of them for their ways of life. They both were learning, they were gathering information about the world, they were growing up.

I let them be. I unplugged my drive from the player and went back to my room to drop it off there so I wouldn't lose it. It was small enough that I'd nearly ended up putting it in the wash before and that hadn't been one of my better moments. I still remember Magali going through my pockets before I put my stuff in the wash, one of those habits she'd picked up recently, after she'd forgotten a small handful of change and it had gone clang clang clang in the dryer, it had been a learning experience.

When I stepped back out of my room with a book in hand, Mira still was at his computer but Agni had somehow disappeared and I tried not to fear for the worst. I tried telling myself that he might have gone upstairs to see Eoghan, I recalled them telling me that while he had a really extensive collection of movies in his hard drives, he also had a fair collection of them on DVDs and Blu-ray. Maybe Agni had gone up to get another comedy to look at. At times I had to tell myself that he was easily amused. Not really a bad thing.

I settled on the couch, book in my lap though I listened to the quiet of the place for a moment. All I heard was Mira's clicking keys. That was good enough for me. I turned my attention to my book and forgot the outside world existed as I got sucked back into its reality.

  


The sound of the door opening and closing is what pulled me away from my reading and I looked that way. There was Mira, a handful of movies in his hands and I laughed. I had a feeling he'd end up watching most of those in his room, on his laptop unless somehow he managed to sweet-talk his way into being allowed to watch them on the regular player. I wasn't sure about Mira's take on this and while the sight of him with all those movies amused me, one movie a day was enough for me and I really preferred the idea of reading my book.

I didn't really get a choice. He walked up to me, dropped the movies on the couch and that was that. I looked them over, not all of them were comedies. Maybe I had underestimated him, maybe his interest was in the black and white more than in the gags, that was something of a relief. Still, I didn't really feel like watching a second movie so I got up to my feet with a stretch. He looked at me, confused for a moment and I mussed his hair, he batted at my hand.

"I think one movie a day's good enough for me, Agni. I won't stop you from watching these two, maybe you can convince your brother to watch them with you, so long as they're not really comedies since it seems as though he doesn't care for them much." He pouted at me then and I shook my head.

"Pouting won't work with me, Agni!" I called out gently, seconds before I stepped into the bedroom that was now mine until I went back home, if I ever did. I felt more as though I belonged out there and preferred the idea of actually moving into another building instead of going back home, when that time came. It was an odd sort of sensation.

For a moment, I stayed near my doorways, listening to the apartment, wondering if Agni would go ask his brother to watch the movies with him. I heard some shuffling followed by a grumble. Agni looked through his movies, seemed to pick one and set it to the player. I didn't know whether I was supposed to feel bad or not though I didn't feel much at that point, else than I just wanted to get back to my book.


	14. She's Better Than That

I don't hold her in my heart, I don't think I ever will. At first, when she asked me out to coffee, I thought it would be a learning experience, it was going to be my first outing with someone who wasn't family, I thought we would discuss this and that. I was wrong, of course but that cannot be changed now. I don't judge others because of what she's done to me, that would be a pretty shitty thing to do.

She hasn't been around in some time, sure, I've seen glimpses of her but I don't really think that can be considered as seeing her around. If she'd done more than step in and out of the library for the sake of stepping into it, I would have considered her seen. This wasn't it. Not that it matters much, I don't make it my goal to keep track of her though she's hard to miss with her bright bubble pink hair. She changes it now and again but the main colour, streaks aside, always seem to be that pink.

Cyrille doesn't talk about her often, then again, none of us bring her up, it's not all that surprising I guess since we have little to do with her other than she's his sister. I did glimpse her a couple of weeks back, while Cyrille still was staying at home, healing up. I thought she'd actually come to us to check in on him but I guess she doesn't really care all that much about him, it's sad. I noticed a couple of bruise on her but really, she doesn't care about her brother, why should I go out of my way to see if she's doing okay?

I suppose I might be cruel, that's just how I am and that really won't change, at this point. I forgot about it, I thought I'd bring it up to Cyrille, out of curiosity more than anything else but it slipped my mind completely.

Here she is again today, a scarf at her throat, one of those skimpy skirt she seems to love more than anything else in the world, those knee-high boots and a little jacket on top. I can see the dusting of bruise on her, even from where I stand but she's just looking through the shelves, probably looking for one particular book.

I nudge Cyrille and I nod her way. I figure I might as well do that. He shrugs lightly and hands me a book. I climb up the little step stool and I set it where it belongs. Usually he'd be doing the higher books since he's taller but he's still healing and he knows better than to argue at this point, I'm grateful for that much.

"That happen often?" My words are whisper-soft and not even because I'm talking about her but because we're in the library and I just know that this is how things go. He shrugs again, glancing up to his sister before he hands me two more books.

"Now and again in her pick-up, have sex and walk out in the morning, she stumbles on someone who plays a little rough. She deserves better and she's better than that, really, but that's how she plays it. I'm not her shrink, I'm not our father though I'm pretty sure he wouldn't care unless she came home pregnant. I've talked to her about it when she started it up and when she first came home with bruises but I learned soon enough that she didn't care either. She just covers them up and let them heal."

I can't understand how anyone might let anyone get away with hitting them. I don't know what's going on in her mind and I guess it doesn't much matter in the long run. "You think that might actually be from your brother?"

"Niall?" He looks back up again as we move to another row, he shakes his head this time. "The only one rule Niall has in life is that he won't hit women. If he wants to abuse them, he'll do it verbally. He's pretty subtle about it too because I used to be one of his victims until he deemed me old enough to be able to hold myself up to physical abuse. I guess his verbal and emotional abuse might just be the reason why Élodie is how she is, though. I don't know. We've both been seeing shrinks since we were kids, different ones because my dad didn't want us to swap note or something."

He laughs, a bitter sound and people glance our way briefly before going back to their books. Cyrille shakes his head and breathes a soft sigh, he seems absolutely worn though at this point it might just be an emotional sort of thing and not a physical one. We grew up in ways that are so different that I can't really relate to most of what he's gone through. Though he can't relate to my life either so we're not all that different.

  


We don't really broach the subject while we're on the way home. I think we're all a little tired. People are being nitpicky about things lately and it's not like we can perform miracles. The contractors are doing their best to not be too loud while they work on fixing the place up but in certain situations it's just inevitable.

Mira rubs his eyes and I nudge him gently. He sticks his tongue out and stretches just lightly. "I dub you both cook for tonight, I'm pooped. I had this one lady following around most of the day because the books I was finding for her weren't the exact ones she wanted, that being, the copy she wanted was already out of the library and in someone else's hands. She kept on saying she'd taken notes in them and we'd just erased them all. I tried as I could to explain how things actually are supposed to work but she wouldn't hear a word of it."

Up front, Armin laughs and shakes his head. "I bet that was Arabella. She's very, very picky about her books and she always wants another because it's not right. She does tend to take notes in her books however, which in turn leaves us actually unable to put them back on the shelves. We make her pay the new book fee, she goes home with the book and then seems to somehow, miraculously so, forget that she has those book permanently and she comes back to the library to borrow them. I'm pretty sure that she has several copies of particular books and more than likely with the same passages scribbled over or highlighted."

I don't know whether to laugh or just be confused by this woman's behaviour. I roll my eyes instead and lean back into my seat. I tug at the seatbelt slightly as I'm actually used to being behind the driver but Mira opted for that seat today. It feel strange to be wearing it on this side though I know it won't kill me.

Once home I head out to the back of the building since I know it's not really time to start preparing dinner and I don't see the need to keeping myself cooped inside while it's still nice outside though the air is getting colder. This is going to be my first winter with a roof over my head from the start to the end of it. Before too long, we'll be celebrating a year with a permanent roof over our heaves, I'm going to have to figure something out because I'll have to make it special, it has to mean something after all.

I look up as I settle on the swing and Cyrille settles next to me. "Mira said he was going up to his room for a nap. I guess he's not used to being followed around by Bella. She can be a little crazy, I've been around her a few times."

"I'm going to need your help before too long, Cyrille."

"I'm here to help?" He laughs softly and leans back against the back of the swing. He's smiling though, so I know he means it. I'm going to make it memorable.


	15. Sifting Through Sand

Looking through old photo albums, looking at how the world has grown and progressed over decades and centuries, I stumble upon an old photo that amuses me more than it should. There I am, kneeling on the ground, a sieve in hand and looking for, I'm not sure I recall what. Gold most than likely, it was the time, back then. Sifting through sand and through muck, through this and that. I found a lot though I never did really find any gold.

It was a time of huge changes, of new things and of people heading out to discover new areas. I'd already been all over the world at this point and everywhere, humans were progressing forward, moving at a fair pace towards new things and better lives. That is not to say that they're not still doing that now but everything feels so detached.

While some people still work a lot with their hands, a lot of jobs nowadays are done through computers with a lot of typing and web surfing and whatever else it is they do to earn money. I'm not saying it's bad, it's far from, but less and less people know how to work with their hands. Carpenters might still learn their trade but the passion for that is so rare compared to then. People used to gather, people used to discover new things together, now people fight not to decide who will go first but to force someone to start in since not one of them really cares to anymore.

The world has changed and I don't know that I care all that much for its changes.

Would I want to go back to the older times of world without true civilisation? Probably not but a lot could be learned. So much could be learned of those few tribes that still remain lost in the wilderness, those who refuse to even be approached by outsiders. They work together, they manage the land, they have their own languages.

The loss of the properly spoken language is one of those things I miss the most. I look at chat rooms on the computer, out of curiosity more than anything else, and I see shortened words, one-letter uses and words for which the spelling no longer makes sense. It is really so hard to type out 'how are you?' or simply 'you'? It seems to be, nowadays it is a case of 'how r u' and 'u'. The thought almost makes me ill with homesickness for older times when languages were cherished, not abandoned this way.

I suppose it might very well be why I have the library attached to the house as I do. Full of older books, first editions, worn scrolls, books where the language is cherished as it should be, books where I can lose myself and forget that everything today needs to be done quickly and shortcuts aren't an issue.

Shortcuts, when I grew up, were not an option. Shortcuts were dangerous and avoided at all costs. I know I'm old, this is hardly news for anyone who knows me even just barely and I suppose I am old fashioned. No, I will not stand for slavery and I will not stand for the beating of people who have done wrong but I dearly so miss so many things of time gone by.

Eoghan knows this, he knows of my love of pure things, of poetic things which I suppose are a bit of an oxymoron when one considers that I am gifted with strife. Only once has he ever teased me about this and the subject was dropped quickly enough. Though I suppose that my turning my back on him and ignoring him for the week following that tease has taught him a lesson. I'm old fashioned, that won't change though I can appreciate some of technology's forms.

  


I'm not sure why I felt the need to look through old photos. I try not to do this often as some memories are harder to recall than others and some are just painful to live through again. Now and again, I might do things that will make little sense. It is my own way of not forgetting, it is my way of looking at all that surrounds me and telling myself 'I've lived through and I've grown stronger for it'. Not a single moment in this life have I really surrendered. I have often dropped my guard, lowered my arms, nearly given up indeed but never have I really gone through the act.

Insanity is not all that uncommon when you come to be of a certain age. I have seen, in my much younger years, before most demons seem to disappear from the face of the planet, elders, beginning to babble without any sense, beginning to mumble to themselves, uttering words that held no meaning or reason. The loss of sanity is something that I wish on no one, it is a terrible sight to behold and it difficult to work through, depending on the gift the demon has held in his or her breast since birth.

In demons with minor gifts, the onset of insanity is easily worked with but with demons of greater powers, elementals and strife-keepers, mind-speakers, when insanity settle, the first thing to go usually is the secure control over the gifts one is born with and handling tornadoes, earthquakes, accidental wars, none of it is easy. 

I've met Eoghan's grandfather though I might never tell him that. The man was on the brink, on the very edge of sanity versus insanity and his hold over his telepathy was wavering. He would spend hours simply holding his head in his hands, rocking back and forth, unable to block the voices that he had kept out of his mind for longer than I had been alive then. Then, after a few miserable years where no one seemed to be able to help him, he slipped into the hold of insanity itself, his gift was pushed outwards and several who had been kept in the same building as him died, as if from a blow to the head.

He had to be killed. I don't know who did it. I don't know why I recall him as being Eoghan's grandfather other than the age matches, the features, I can see now how much they looked like one another. Those same blue eyes. Of course, Eoghan is different, somehow those wings of his, his mark as it is, they're more than likely from his mother because wings are rare for anyone with gifts like ours. Demons usually do not have feathers.

  


After a few hours of looking at photos, I put the album away again. I always tend to feel worse after I've looked at the photos than before I did though there's not much to be done about that, really. I do it again and again, though usually with a few decades between every viewing so I suppose I'm not all that much a glutton for punishment.

Eoghan stands in the doorway, merely leaning against its frame and I have to wonder as to how long he's been standing there. Not that it matters much. I turn to face him, a light smile to my lips though he shakes his head. As I step closer he presses a kiss to my lips, a light, brief sort of touch. "I wish you wouldn't look at those photos, they always leave you troubled and I don't like you being troubled."

"Troubled or not, I have you to help me forget about everything and I know you love being able to pamper me though you might never really admit to it." I chuckle as he pouts. I curl my arms about him and lean my head against him for a few moments. His presence is my anchor in this world, this new, language-broken world. He's the main reason I'm still out and about. Without him, I don't think I would stand much of a chance at staying alive.


	16. I wish I'd never seen __________

"I can't get that image out of my mind. No matter what I try to think about, that image is still there, right in my face and nothing makes it go away. Make it go away, Cyrille, this is your fault."

"How is this my fault?" He sounds completely startled as he looks towards my complaining brother. I wish I'd never seen what I just did either but I know it wasn't really his fault. There just was someone out there who screwed up in a bad way. I mean honestly, hardcore porn trailers before a PG-13 movie? That's either in really, really poor taste or it's just one of the worst mistake of someone's life and I bet someone will be losing their job over this.

"You said this movie would be awesome!"

"You have to give him that much, Agni, that movie was pretty awesome, the porn trailers aside. The 3D effects were really something, I'd never seen anything like that before, I felt like I could reach out and just touch things."

"Thank you Mira."

"Stop taking his side, you traitor. You can't tell me you weren't disturbed by what was on that screen."

"Well of course I was, I still am, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it. I'll look at pretty pictures of kittens and puppies when we get home and that'll be that."

Just a step behind me, Cyrille laughs and shakes his head. "You've discovered online, safe alternative to eye-bleach, huh?"

I just grin at him while Agni continues to complain softly under his breath. "Yeah, I found this site a while back that called itself MindBleach. It has adorable pictures of kittens. You can even rate them and whatnot. You just click on the picture and it takes you to the next one. It's interesting."

"It sounds completely pointless."

"You're an absolute baby at times, Agni." I murmur, teasing him and he pouts as we step outside into the chilly autumn air. It'll be winter soon, I don't know if I'm looking forward to it or not. "It's useful, really. Load it up on your laptop when we get home and look at a few pictures, see if that doesn't clear you up."

Cyrille fights back a snicker and I chuckle, amused while I knew I probably shouldn't have been. I can't help it. The scene was bad, the woman's voice was aggravating and it was only for a few moments, there were a lot of yelling in the theatre as it happened but then they played the movie and they gave us a free pass for another movie to make up for it. It wasn't really all that bad in the long run.

I had the 'sex' talk with Eoghan not that long ago. It was interesting to watch him turn several shades of red while Alexis was just standing beside him, looking amused more than anything else. Of course it wasn't 'I want to have sex, how do I?!' kind of talk, it was just the 'I've looked around online, I've seen stuff, how much of it can actually be trusted' kind of thing. I admit to have looked at one porno or two though they usually were gay men together. I don't know if it's Élodie's thing with Agni or I'm just that way but seeing woman nude just doesn't appeal to them and looking at their private parts when they are nude interests me even less.

  


Once in the car, Agni actually quiets, breathing a deep sigh. We all buckle up as Cyrille starts us on the way home. "Okay, fine, I suppose I might have overreacted but it did look pretty weird, she was almost screaming and he was just pounding away at her and just, no, not really, no thank you."

He pauses there, actually seeming to wait until we're at a red-light before he continues. "And I hope to everything that this isn't what your sister had in mind when she invited me out for that coffee back then because now I'm double-ew about it all. I have no issues with women but that just ruined it all for me."

Cyrille twitches lightly and I think I'm glad we're stopped. He gags for a moment though he shakes his head and punches Agni lightly on the shoulder. "Dude, I do not want to think about what my sister might or might not like when she sleeps around!"

Point for Cyrille, that is a bit creepy when I think about it, at least I think it might be. I have no issues with seeing my brother naked but I figure that I might not be all that comfortable around him more than likely being with someone else. It's not something we've really broached as a subject and I guess I have nothing to really compare it to.

Agni mumbles an apology before he falls quiet and the rest of the ride home is done in silence with only the radio playing quietly. Once we're home, the car parked and everyone out, I look up to the sky, hugging my coat a little closer to myself. 

"I know it's none of my business, Cyrille and you're more than free to completely ignore my question, I'm just curious. Are you active?" The question almost comes out as a murmur, nearly inaudible. He pauses by me and merely offers me one of those smiles that I think he should have on his face more often, it makes him look absolutely, I don't know, dashing?

"I've been, I mean I'm not a virgin anymore. It happened a handful of times but we didn't work out and we've gone our separate ways. I haven't been since." His words are quiet but honest. I feel my cheeks warm, knowing I really didn't have any right to ask him that question and I'm not even sure why I asked him in the first place.

"Well I'm not and I don't think Agni is." My brother looks back our way, his cheeks as deep as his hair. His eyes are wide and he turns back around, stomping up the stairs and inside. I laugh, a sheepish sound and I shrug. "I figured that if I had asked you had a right to know how it was in my case too. I mean, with all the growing up on the street and all..."

I go quiet then, my mind going back on that one moment in my life I know I try to repress as much as I can. I stay quiet until we're both inside. "I have to ask this, honestly. I figure it doesn't count but does being molested count as being active?"

My words are so soft that for a second I think I've honestly just thought them and not uttered them. Cyrille's arms settling over my shoulder proves that I did utter them and he just hugs my shoulder a moment as he head for the stairs. We'll take them slow and I know it's his way of just talking to me without anyone around though I wouldn't have minded if Agni had heard and he's probably up on our hallway already.

"Being molested is one thing, Mira. It doesn't mean you're sexually active. At least I sure as hell don't see it as being sexually active. I see the whole thing as when you're willingly with someone, doing things you want to be doing and not just being forced into them." He pauses and his fingers squeeze my shoulder again. "If there's anything you want to talk to me about, though you really don't have to, I'm here to listen. I'm pretty sure if you've gone through something like this before, you've talked about it all before and you might not feel like talking about it again but you know."

He shrugs and I smile, leaning closer to kiss his cheek as we step up on the second floor. The door to our home is opened and I step back to let him step in before me.

"Thanks, Cyrille. That means a lot."


	17. Across The River

The morning air is fresh and clear, cool, almost cold. For a November day, it isn't so bad though it turns out to be chillier than I had expected when we'd made plans the night before to finally head out along the property to try to cross the river. We've walked along it before but at one point it curves back inward and blocks up the path to head along the rest of the way. It's a distance off but nothing we haven't really seen or walked before.

Yael has double checked his garden, he looked it over yesterday to make sure it would be fine on its own today. A routine check more than anything else. I know how much he worries about it. He takes such good care of it, like a lover almost though I know better. I might have been tempted to turn to jealousy if I hadn't known better though it hardly is like that.

It's not that he spends that much time taking care of it, he doesn't need to. His natural gift with plants helps a lot and at times we honestly have too much of everything, even after we've dropped stuff off to everyone else. That had happened with the apples and through a lot of cooking and baking (he did most of it) we worked that quantity down to a more manageable level.

I wrap a scarf around my neck, finding my gloves. The crisp air is something I've learned to not underestimate, I like my fingers where they are at and they're more important than the rest of me. I zip up my coat, straighten the scarf and shrug the small backpack on. We both have one of those, just a few snacks, a flashlight just in case though we don't imagine we'll really need it. We also each have one of those portable little heat packs. I'm not really sure what they are. They're little heart-shaped gel-things, when squish them once and they warm up for a few minutes, it's good for holding between the hands to warm up for a little bit. Yael found them and I love them to bits.

I turn to him, a smile to my lips as I just watch him finish to tie his boots on, he's already got his coat and scarf on and I assume his gloves can't be very far.

We've played with the cats, we've fed them, we've made sure to leave them plenty of toys before heading out. I know they'll be just fine on their own but I suppose that these cats are, to me, what Yael's garden is to him. The whole thing holds a certain note of amusement for me considering he's the one who asked to have an animal in the house.

Once we're finally wrapped up warmly in our clothes, backpacks on and walking sticks found—not that we need walking sticks but they make getting through certain areas a lot safer—we head out and into the cool morning air. The sky is cloud covered though it's a slight cover, I can still see patches of blue up there. The breeze is a little cold on my face but I know that this is nothing compared to the winter winds we'll eventually have once the seasons change and turn again.

  


We walk in relative quiet, the crunching of leaves and fallen branches the only sound that accompany us. We follow the river until it cuts through our pathway. From where we stand, there is no way across without going through the river, it blocks the way to the rest of the property through most of its width. I know it curves back towards its proper bed further down the side but that would add at least another hour to our walking.

Yael stops at my side, looking down to the mostly empty river bed. During spring, it overflows from all the melting snow and ice. In the summer it has a small bed and we could probably waddle across if we felt like it. In the autumn however, it seems to dry up. It doesn't make much sense as far as I can tell but that just seems to be out it works. There's still water up to our ankles and we both know that we can't just cross it that way.

We head down along its length, looking maybe for a large tree that might have fallen over or just some bigger rocks that could help us cross. After fifteen or so minutes, we spot a mix of both. On our side, there's the tree, its fallen trunk dipped into the water though where it does reach the water, there are a couple of larger, flat rocks that sit somewhat above the water, just barely, that we can use to cross.

We share a look, just a brief one and I head down first. Yael is more agile than I am but his reflexes are also better than mine, if I look to be tipping over, he'll be able to catch me. I don't expect to be tipping over but some things do tend to happen when you least expect it.

I make it across without a hitch, Yael not far behind me. We move back out of the nearly empty, though not quite, riverbed and start walking again. I don't know what we're expecting to find and I imagine Yael isn't either. I know there is a lake of sorts at the very edge of the property, I've only seen it in the plans though and it's too far from the house to actually try to reach it during a single walk. It's not something I even want to attempt in this cooling weather. We'd have to ask the twins to come over to take care of the cats if we did this as it stands.

We walk, quietly, peacefully. Another hour almost and eventually the river does cross our paths once more. I'm starting to think this thing snakes around along the property for a while, it must lead to the lake. I don't really imagine it any differently. We settle where we're at, setting out a thick blanket and sitting down. We bring out our snacks, having a light lunch where we stand. We figure that while we could keep on walking, it might just be best to head on home. Another day, in the return of the warmer season the next year, could be set up for us to walk deeper, to the edge and end of our property.

After a bit of rest, we pack up what little we'd brought along and we set back off again. When we get back to the rocks and trunk, Yael goes first this time, across the rocks, up the trunks and to the other side. I follow suit, nearly slipping on the rocks but I make it across without getting my feet wet.

"I should have brought my camera." Yael's gaze is up to the trees, most of their leaves surprisingly still present though their range of colour is absolutely beautiful. 

"It's not as though we can't come back on another day, one preferably with less cloud cover." I walk up to him, curling my arm through him to lead him back home. He chuckles and goes with, not really fussing to trying to stop me. I know he knows I have a point. This is our land, our property. We can come back out here any time we might want for him to take photos so he can paint them or do whatever it is he might want with them.

Once we step out of the forest, I stretch, a slight yawn coming to the surface. I have to admit that it has been some time since I've last really just walked for the sake of walking, it's a good exercise, I really should do it more often.


	18. Mashed Potatoes

I honestly don't know how they got started. I don't know how they managed to get it everywhere, there are some spots I'll have to get Cyrille to clean because I'm not even sure if we have any step-stool we can use. We should, I'll have to put it on our list of things to buy.

There are mashed potatoes in place there shouldn't be. There are peas in place there shouldn't be. I'm pretty sure there's sauce where there shouldn't be. We were supposed to be eating hot chickens and someone, it seems, decided that they didn't want any. I haven't asked to know why they had this food fight, I suppose it might have been because they thought it would be fun. I'm pretty tempted to leave the cleaning up to them but I know I won't be able to. Too much of a softy, me.

"So can you guys tell me why there's food everywhere but on the plates and what we're supposed to be eating for dinner?" It honestly is getting late, it's dark out but that's what happens at this time of the year and I don't think we have anything in the fridge that's thawed enough to cook. We might just have to go for takeout and I don't much care for the idea, I suppose I don't really have a choice.

Cyrille looks at the mess, some peas and sauce in his hair, Agni looks at the floor, more than likely at more of the stuff and I sigh. I run my fingers through my hair and shake my head. "All right, somehow this food fight just happened out of nowhere and food has flung itself everywhere because it could. How about you two get started on cleaning up while I look through the phone book to order us something to eat?"

I'm starving, it does not make me pleasant to deal with though I know I'm still being pretty civil about it. They exchange look, a sheepish smile on each of their faces and I roll my eyes with a sigh. 

"There's some on top of the fridge, Cyrille, you can have fun with that one. We don't have a step-stool and you're the only one tall enough to get to it." It's not really at the very top of the fridge—that I can see, at least—but more on the top of the door and I assume that if there's some there, there will be some on top of the fridge. He mumbles an apology, cheeks flaming and I leave them to begin their cleaning while I look for the phonebook. I could look online but the phonebook is closer and I feel as though I might be able to keep an ear on them this way.

They shuffle a bit but then I hear the sounds of cupboards being opened and closed, more than likely bringing out the cleaning necessities. I walked in on them just sort of staring at it all and I'm pretty sure it didn't happen all by itself but I don't know who started it and they probably won't even tell.

  


By the time the food is delivered, I even stepped outside, bundled up, to wait for the guy since I wasn't sure about letting him into the building itself, the kitchen is partly cleaned. The worst of it is gone, there are no obvious signs of a food fight though the smell is still present and I can still see signs of greasy left over spots in places.

I set the food down, glad I'd picked up cold food to eat though they would deserve to eat their own food cold even if it had been hot to begin with and I went to help them with the last of the cleaning.

Half an hour later, the kitchen was as spotless as it would get, the all around scents and smells were decent and I was starving. Agni's stomach was grumbling loudly, as was the stomach's owner. Cyrille was quiet, looking uncertain, as if he blamed himself for the whole thing and was ready to be punished for it.

We settle at the table and I hand out the boxes with a sigh. "I'm not even going to ask again, I honestly don't want to know. I'm not blaming either one of you. I'm just glad the kitchen is cleaned. Now, if you guys didn't want hot chicken you could have said so instead of flinging it around, though."

Agni snorts lightly but Cyrille manages the hint of a smile. I sigh and rub my eyes, turning to my food. I've discovered a certain love for sushi thanks to Eoghan. I feel as though these two don't deserve this kind of special meal after the fight but I mostly told myself that I was going to eat comfort food after being denied a bit too long for something to eat.

We eat in quiet though twice a foot brushes over my leg. I ignore it, not sure where it might be coming from since we're all bare-footed now but taking into consideration the side where the brushing occurs, I have a fairly good idea. We don't make much eye-contact, too busy not quite stuffing our faces but almost. It is later than usual for any of us, we normally eat our meal at an earlier hour or we at least have a small snack when we're preparing a later meal.

As I'm closing my empty box, the foot brushes my leg again and I look up. Agni is licking his fingers clean but Cyrille is staring at his closed box. I gather all the empty boxes, throwing them out before I head into my room. I assume Cyrille might be wanting to talk to me and he knows he can do that whenever he wants. 

I hear the chairs scrape gently against the ground as one of them gets up, then the other. I assume Agni might head off into his room or the shower at this point, he was as filthy as Cyrille had been. I know Cyrille had mostly wiped his hair clean before the clean up. At least he doesn't have to wait for the bathroom use since the master bedroom has its own.

He knocks at my doorframe before stepping inside with a sigh. "I'm sorry about the food fight, Mira."

I turn to him, my head shaken lightly. "It happened, I think I was mostly angry about the loss of the food than the mess you two made, don't worry about it."

"But I do. I've just-" He bites his bottom lip and shakes his head. I step closer to him, wiping one last bit of mashed potato from the top of his head. He blushes and ducks his head.

"Cyrille, don't worry about it. I don't really care about it. I was just starving and it seemed as though it might take forever to get some food. I wasn't feeling so great, that's all. How about you go and take a shower? Your hair looks shiny for how much grease there's still in there. Or are you here to ask me to help you wash up?" My offer is as genuine as it is a tease, it really just depends on him. He blushes deeply, his eyes going wide and I laugh gently.

"I'm teasing, Cyrille. Though I'm so used to helping Agni wash up that I wouldn't have any issues with helping you. I figure you might not really want that though, privacy and all but really, go on and get washed up, you smell like peas and gravy, it doesn't really fit you."

He sticks his tongue out but I can see in his eyes that he looks relieved, probably that I don't hold any of the food fight in a grudge. It'd be a silly sort of thing to do. It happened, there's no turning time.


	19. The Solution to All Problems

I can hear him stomping around as he comes up the stairs. Usually on most days he's so quiet that he startles me when he closes the door to our home. He's stomping up now and I'm sure everyone can hear him. This is a bit unusual but I suppose it isn't all that strange. I've known him to stomp about before when he'd had an exceedingly bad day. Those have been so very far and few in-between since I've moved back here—though I know it isn't my moving back in that did that—that I'd almost forgotten he could get mad.

He slams the front door and I can hear a few of the wall-hung trinkets rattle a bit from the force of it. He seems pissed in a bad way. Stomping is one thing, door slamming is another altogether. I know he was out to meet a few different contractors about the library. A few days back, he received one particular phone call telling him that the building's foundation were in such poor repair that they didn't think it was actually possible to fix it up, that in a few more years it was likely the whole place would come crashing down.

That left him more than a little unhappy and I know he's been looking to try to find another place, preferably in the downtown area of course, that could serve as a library. There is one building in particular I've seen that I thought could do well and it has been on sale for some time but I don't know of its basic condition, I haven't had time to bring it up to him yet. I will soon though maybe not today, by the looks and sounds of things.

He comes stomping into the bedroom and now I hear him muttering away to himself. A really bad day, it seems. I move to the bedroom, leaning on the door frame, just watching him as he undresses, clothes being thrown everywhere as he does. He's yet to see me and I don't much want to startle him, that might just get a bad reaction out of him.

Once he's nude, he stomps to the bathroom. The sight of him this way pulls a smile to my lips. I know I shouldn't but I can't help myself, it's amusing, really. I shake my head, listening to him for a moment or two. He gets the shower going and the stomping stops when he steps inside.

Finally I follow him, first leaning against the frame of that one door and then I step inside. I knock lightly on the shower door and I settle on the floor a few paces away. "HUMANS ARE STUPID!"

Bad day indeed. I shake my head, a wry smile to his lips. I don't join him in the shower. I usually would but I think he needs to cool down a little first. "Humans can be stupid though they aren't all that way. How about you tell me what happened?" I speak calmly but just loudly enough for him to hear me in the shower. For a while I can only see him scrubbing himself, the steam from the heated water fogging up the glass panes of the shower. That's personally a shame as far as I care because I love the sight of him nude.

"They tell me they can't do shit, that even if they fix up the electricity, the heat and everything else, the foundations are too worn and too weak to hold the building for much more than a year or two, that it'll fall apart. So I ask them, can't you guys move the building? I mean we've both seen it be done, they lift the building up and they move it elsewhere. They could set up new foundations and set the building down there but no, the foundations are the only thing holding this old hunk of shit up and they try to move it it'll just all collapse, ARGH!"

I suppose it's reason enough to warrant anger. He's been working so hard to get control over the library so he could get it fixed up. "What about other buildings?"

I know he's thought about it and I know he's not really found anything else but I need him to just talk, to get it all off his chest. It's the only way to get him to calm down.

"Not a single godamned building big enough to serve as a library for the number of books there are and not one of them on sale anyway!"

He's starting to deflate a little now, I shake my head, a faint half-smile to my lips as I get back up to my feet. "I'll be waiting for you in the bedroom, I have information that might interest you."

With that said, I step from the bathroom and back into the bedroom where I settle on the comfortable chair we keep in one of the corners. Usually we drop this and that on there and it rarely is clear of stuff but at this point it is so I know I can make good use of it. I close my eyes, just staying where I am. I listen to the sounds in the bathroom, the shower still going for a few more minutes though before long the water is off and I hear him step out. I can imagine he's wrapping himself up in his towel, scrubbing his hair dry a little before he steps out with a sigh.

He still looks miffed and I can't blame him for that, I don't blame him for it. He looks at me and he just looks as if his whole world was falling apart. I shake my head, hold out my arms and he steps closer. Without needing another kind of invitation, he sits on my lap, his arms around my shoulder and he hides his face best as he can against me.

"I know it's not completely downtown though it isn't far off. Remember this old church they set up for sale almost a year ago? It still is in pretty good shape, the foundations are solid, the roof is solid, you'd probably have to make sure the crew added in a few heating elements but the electricity is in good shape. I think it'd mostly be a matter of changing the windows, setting up better lighting, new, sturdier shelves and I think you'd have yourself a pretty good library and for less effort than you're putting now into this seemingly doomed project."

He breathes a soft note against my neck, a 'what are you talking about?' kind of sound and I laugh softly. He frowns at me as he leans back, blue staring into green and I lean closer to steal a kiss from his lips. "That church just a few streets away from what they consider downtown. They've been trying to find someone to buy that place for almost a year now. I looked at it while the warehouse was being renovated into our home, out of curiosity more than anything else. I think you'd have more room than you'd need and it would just be beautiful."

"Maybe." His first mostly calm world since he's come inside. I smile at him, hugging him closer to me. I relish in the sensations of his bare skin against my clothed one.

"For the rest of today, we rest. I wear you out so good you don't even remember what happened today. Tomorrow, I'll take you to see the church. I think you'll like it." I'm not big on being in churches, at least when they're used as churches since I know the truth behind that one particular religion. To change that church into a library though, I think it would be one of those ideas that really last, the one solution to all his problems right now.

He grumps again, a soft little huff as he presses up against me again and closes his eyes. I don't mind just holding him for now. 


	20. Painting

He's been working on and off on this project for a few months though it might be closer to a year if I really stop to think about it. Almost. At first it was just the four of us from the 'old' group though that's hardly a term to use. I'd only known Eoghan for about five years and Yael hadn't known him at all, Alexis was new to the two of us but it was just the four of us together. Then, when the twins and their sister entered our lives, he sketched them into the painting too. After that it was Armin and now Cyrille.

There's a little bit of colour on everyone, as if he wants to make sure we all have our spot on there. The only one who actually doesn't have any colour though is still sketched in is Zora. I know, in her own way, she's part of this little group-almost-family of ours but she walked out, she went off and she doesn't give us any news so it's hard to want to picture her in with the rest of us, I suppose that's why he hasn't really coloured her in at all yet.

I don't ask him about his methods when he paints or does art in any of its shape or forms. For the past couple of weeks he hasn't really touched the painting, he's mostly been busy sculpting little figurines. I know which one is me and I can tell which one is Eoghan and Alexis. The twins look too much alike without any colour to them to be able to tell which is why. I don't know if he'll add in our markings or if he'll leave us looking as human as we are to everyone around us.

It's rare for those marking, as they are, the be out and about, visible, even when it's just us. I don't even know if he has one himself. I have my tail though it's been hidden for years at this point, I don't think Eoghan ever told me what his was but he did tell me that all those born with gifts, those like us, having something that tells them apart from the mortal ones. It's not always something big and overly visible but it's there.

He even made sure to keep the figurines to a proper height. It's strange to look at them that way. There is Alexis, tall and towering, Eoghan just a little shorter. There's Cyrille, Armin and the twins. Yael seems to fall between Cyrille and Armin and I'm just a bare hint shorter than Armin himself. The twins are the shortest at this point but they're still young, I think they might still have plenty of room for growing up. Though it's just as likely they'll stay as slight as they are now.

  


I knock on the door to his studio, a tray carefully balanced. It's almost lunch time and I know he hasn't stepped out for anything to eat yet. I'm aware I'm usually not supposed to be bothering him when he's in there but the door is ajar and I know that's the go-ahead I need. If his door has been completely shut I would have let him be.

There's a slight shuffle and a 'come in' out of him, a mumbled note really and I carefully push the door open, just in case some fluffy four-legged ankle-wandering butt has decided to sleep behind it. Yael is sitting in front of the painting. It's so long, that canvas, that it sits with two easels, one on either end of it. I move to set the tray down on a clear spot near his working desk. He turns to me, a brush between his teeth and I chuckle softly. That explain the mumbling.

He smiles through the brush and I snicker. He blinks, goes cross-eyed looking down at what I'm staring at and he blushes as he realizes that he is clinging to that brush with his teeth and he takes it from his mouth. "I honestly forgot that was there."

"Well that just means you're absolutely focused on what you're doing now and that's all." I chuckle and kiss his cheek. I motion to the tray, some juice, sandwiches and a few pieces of lokum, some home made Turkish Delights, just sitting there, waiting for him. He smiles, his eyes bright and I wipe a bit of paint from his nose. "Just don't forget to eat. I'll close the door the way it was, just slightly ajar, that good enough?"

He nods and turns his attention back to the painting. It is coming along nicely, beautifully really. The colours are bright and clear. I know he has a smaller version of this one where we all seem to be wearing older clothes, as if from another life, another era more than likely. It's just sketched so I can't make out many of the details.

I leave him be, pulling the door almost shut, leaving it just barely ajar. Wide enough for a cat or two to sneak in should they feel like it. I don't mind leaving him to work this way, it's his passion, it's what keeps him going and it's the reason why we met at all so I'm grateful for that. I wouldn't change it for anything in the world.

I walk away, pondering my options. I could head into my weaving room, I do have another particular piece I've been working on and off on, it's mostly several layers to go with one piece and I tend to manage one layer every now and then, mostly when I feel like it. I could just sit in the living room, reading a book with the hearth lit and warm, that might just be the better option at this time. I don't feel like weaving.

  


When he comes out of his studio, he's covered in little specks of paint. Nothing as bad as that one time he let me play with the paint by number—which I completely ruined—but still, it's an interesting look for him. The eventual supper is in the oven and still has some time to cook so I have no worries about leaving it be while we head for the bathroom.

I know well enough that he could wash himself up just fine on his own but it's so much better to have someone to wash your back, to make sure you do get all of the paint out of your hair and off your skin. At least, that's how I see it!

He laughs as I unbutton his shirt, it's as messy as the rest of him and it will go in the wash after we're done. Once he's bared to my eyes and mine only, he moves to the shower to get the water going and at a temperature we both are comfortable with. While he's doing that, I slip out of my own clothes. I gather everything into a pile to make it easier to just drop it into the washer once we're done.

I slip into the shower as he's running a brush out of his hair to at least try to get the dry flecks of paint out of it. Once he's done with that, he follows me, moving to stand under the main water flow. I change the shower effect, letting us have the waterfall kind and he breathes a sweet, pleased sigh. I know this is his favourite shower-type.

As he wets his hair and the rest of himself, I reach for the soap. I really have in mind to just help him wash up. Anything else that might happen is a bonus but that's not why I join him in the shower almost every morning or every afternoon when we decide it's about time to wash up. We just appreciate the ability to share this time under the heat of the water, it's a bonding sort of thing.


	21. Phone Book

He had just used it the day before, that it had somehow disappeared from where he had last left it made no sense whatsoever and it confused him. Agni didn't use it, he didn't care to use it. He claimed it was so much easier to use the internet to look up places and phone numbers. Mira liked the old feeling of being able to turn the pages while he looked for something. It was one of the reasons why he loved working in the library, all the books he could handle, all the books he could read and open. Their scent, either old or new, the way he could hold them in his hands, all different sizes and shapes.

Books were dying out, replaced by Kindles or whatever else people were using to read those 'e-books' that were now all the rage. It was sad. Still, that didn't explain why his phone book was missing or where it had gone off to. Though he reminded himself that the book certainly hadn't wandered off on its own, it had no legs and unless it had magically sprouted some, it was still somewhere in their apartment.

He had asked Cyrille who had only shrugged, not even aware they had one such book and Agni had outright ignored him, too busy with whatever game it was he was playing at that point.

Mira had looked, he had searched and he had bent to look under places but still he'd not found it. It was as he dropped to his knees to look under the couch that he found the thing, as if it was trying to hide from him. He reached out for it, tried to grasp it , drag it closer but he found it to be too far from him. He muttered, sighed and moved back to his feet. He stretched with a slight wince from all the looking he'd been doing and went in a brief search of one of the wooden spoons in the kitchen, he figured it would add just enough length to his arm to get the book out from under the couch.

With the spoon in hand, he walked back to the couch and he first knelt on the ground, then moved to flatten himself on his chest so he could look back under the dark and surprisingly dusty area. He blinked as the book seemed to be nowhere it sight, a strange feat as he was sure he had seen it when it had been right there, right at that very spot.

He looked the length of the underside of the couch and spotted the seemingly alive book on the other end. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Mira scooted down until he could reach out with the wooden spoon and give the book a few sideways push, getting out from under the couch to an area where he'd have an easier time picking it up.

Finally, he was back to his feet with the phone book in one hand and the wooden spoon in the other. He walked back to the kitchen, wiped the spoon of dust and put it back where it belonged. He set the phone book down on the counter, opened it at a random page and stared.

"What was I even wanting to look for?" He had been so busy trying to find the book that his mind had conveniently forgotten what he had wanted to look into the book for once he found it. Groaning in dismay, Mira slammed the book shut and left it there. It was in plain sight, if it went anywhere else then there was something wrong with that book because books just weren't supposed to go places on their own.

Half-heartedly stomping away and to his room, Mira promptly crawled under his covers and told himself that if whoever he'd had needed to call was important, it would come back to him.

  


A few hours later, there was a soft knock at his door and he just barely peeked his head out from beneath his covers. He was now toasty warm and he had put the whole phone book deal out of his mind, at least for the most part. He grumbled softly but eased from his bed with an exaggerated sigh. He eased to his door and rubbed his eyes.

He blinked at the sight of Cyrille standing there, a somewhat amused smile to his lips. "I noticed the phone book on the counter, I'm guessing that you found it and put it there, did you call the eye-doctor place the way you wanted to?"

Mira blinked again, looked at him as if he were invisible a moment and looked back up to the young man standing just inches away from him. "I wanted to call the eye-doctor place?"

"Well that's what you said when you asked me if I'd seen the book. I should have helped you look for it, by the way, I'm sorry." 

Mira shook his head, unable to believe that had slipped his mind this way. He looked towards his alarm clock and then shook his head. "It's too late to call in today, I'm not even sure why I wanted to call them in the first place anyway."

"Well you did mention that some of the writing in certain books was blurry. Maybe you should talk to Eoghan about it first, maybe this whole gifted thing makes you different as far as eye-sight, wouldn't want the doctor to figure something out he shouldn't."

Again, Mira blinked up at him, almost taken aback a little by how much Cyrille seemed to be open and understanding of the whole thing. He hadn't thought about how maybe his eyes were different and a little blur might not be fixed by an eye-doctor. 

With a sigh and another rub of the bridge of his nose, he walked to his desk and wrote himself a small note: _Talk to Eoghan about slight blurring of smaller words, then see if calling eye-doctor is necessary_. He left it in the middle of his desk, pinned slightly under the corner of one of his books so it wouldn't float away to the bridge. "Thank you, Cyrille. Through all my searching to find the book it slipped my mind, I couldn't even recall why I'd been looking for it in the first place. I opened it and I drew a blank, it was frustrating."

Reaching out, once Mira was close enough again, Cyrille touched the slighter boy's forehead with his hand gently. He frowned and leaned closer, pressing his lips to that very forehead. He leaned back with a soft 'tsk' sound. Mira's cheeks were rosy from the sudden closeness.

"You're warm and I'm sure it's not just from the time you spent bundled up. You're coming down with a fever, no wonder you're a little cranky. I'm not saying it's a bad thing but I've never really seen you act this way before. You're not burning up yet but I'm sure it'll come before too long, you should probably just get back under the covers at this point, I'll go prepare us all some soup, I think it'll do us some good."

"Okay." Mira saw no point to arguing, he didn't feel that good now that he actually did take a moment to stop thinking about everything else and focus on how he felt. Cyrille smiled at him, mussing his hair lightly. Mira didn't even bother to bat at the hand, he merely walked back to his bed and moved to crawl back under his still warm sheets.

He nuzzled his face against his pillow as Cyrille stepped out of his room. Mira closed his eyes and promptly drifted off to the wings of the sandman. Sleep seemed more important than anything else for him at this point and he had a feeling he'd be woken up for whatever food was brought into his room as necessary.


	22. Out to Dinner

"So you thought we were overdue for a lover's meal together?" Yael's words are amused as he fixes me with his ever-pale eyes. At times it slips my mind that his sight is as good as mine, they're so pale. People tend to not make much of it but some people seem to believe that he's absolutely blind and cannot understand how he wanders around so well without any cane or anything else. It makes me laugh though I try not to laugh publicly. I wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

I shrug gently, offering him a grin over the candles, over the fancy schmancy stuff that's all set out on the table. I honestly think they tend to go overboard with it all but I figured that one meal together outside of the house, without everyone else, was long overdue indeed. "I wanted to appreciate the beauty of your face as the candles offer it a warm, inviting glow?"

He blushes and I grin, offering him a playful sort of shrug. I mean it though. I'm well aware that we have candles at home and we could have had this meal at home but the cats have been bounding about with energy lately and I was afraid that any candles we might have might get batted at and end up on the floor and then, well who knows what might have happened.

"But yes, I thought we were long overdue for a meal out, just you and me, somewhere quiet and calm and absolutely romantic because you deserve the best of everything." He smiles, oh he smiles and he still blushes lightly and I just sigh because this is so absolutely perfect, it's wonderful. Any time I spend with him is perfect and wonderful but at times I suppose romanticism takes a step up and I need to give it all the room I have to offer.

We order things that come on platters, meals meant to be shared and instead of staying seated across him I move to sit next to him. It might not be as romantic but this isn't all about being romantic though it partly is. There's nothing romantic about burning your hand over a candle's burning flame while you try to feed your lover something, so really, moving to his side is so much better and I get to feel the heat of his body next to mine.

We share, we feed one another, we talk about pointless things though we honestly don't talk all that much. I think we're both too busy just enjoying the moments as they drift and pass. The food is delicious and it's hard to not want to stuff it all down my face without slowing down to really taste it all it's so good.

Just before we head outside, we're putting out coats back on, I make sure his scarf is secure at his throat, the breeze is cold and the air has lost whatever little bit of autumn warmth there was left to it just even a week or so ago. He mimics the motions on me, tightening my scarf and offering me my gloves.

Once we're both wearing all we came in with, we step outside. He reaches for my hand and I offer it more than willingly. The wind is at our backs, pushing us along as we head for the bus stop. Taking the bus isn't exactly romantic but we both decided that it was a lot less complicated to take the bus than to try to hail a cab. They're not all that common at this hour though you'd think they were.

  


When we get home and we're safe inside where it is absolutely and deliciously warm, we leave our coats, scarves and gloves in the foyer and step back inside. 

We're greeted by an army of purring and I laugh. I don't pick any of them up, in my mind, my outing isn't quite completely done and over with just yet and my focus still is on Yael. The cats act as if we'd been gone for a decade almost and I admit the sight is rather amusing, not that it will deter me from keeping to my plans, nope, not one little bit.

With careful movements so no cat gets hit with flailing limbs, I sweep Yael off his feet. He laughs, startled, and wraps his arms about my neck to keep himself up. I walk us further inside, careful of my steps since not all the cats have scrambled away yet. I make it into our bedroom but instead of stopping there, I move into the bathroom and I close the door. This is as private as it's going to get and I know we're bound to hear some pawing against the door. I just want to get my plan in action before I let any of the cats into the bathroom.

I set Yael down on that little bench we keep in the bathroom and he still laughs softly, his eyes bright and amused. I move to kneel by the tub, getting the water started on just the right temperature. Not lobster hot but still almost steaming. While that is filling, I offer him my hands and he takes them, easing back to his feet.

I take my sweet time undressing him, sneaking glances up at him all along. The blush on his cheeks deepens with every brush of my fingers. I'm not trying to be indecent, I'm just memorizing the feel of his skin under my hands. Once he's bared, I turn to the tub and I turn the water off, knowing it would be more than enough for the two of us. I offer him my hand again and he takes it. I walk him to the tub and he steps inside, settling in with a low sigh of contentment. I open the door, just so, not even leaving it ajar, just unlatching it. I know that if any of our cats want in they'll come in. 

I undress, stretching as I go and I move to the tub. He eases forward slightly and I move to settle into the water with a low note of pleasure. He leans back against me and I close my eyes. Just hot water and the two of us together in the tub. I don't even need fancy oils or rose petals or anything else, This is perfect for me and I can't imagine I would ever really want for anything else.

We stay in the tub until the water cools, the door still unlatched but closed and I'm grateful that they let us have some peace. Yael leans somewhat away from me and I follow his motions so I can reach around him to pull the plug on the tub. I hug him closely as the water begins to drain before I step up and carefully out. I wrap a towel about my waist and once more I hold my hand out for him.

He takes it, easing to his feet carefully and stepping out. I wrap the second towel around him, helping him dry up. Once we're both sufficiently dry, I open the door from bathroom to bedroom completely and we step into the bedroom. I pull down the sheets from the bed and we both simply settle, nestling up close and comfortable.

Before long, Yael curls up against me, his head against my shoulder and one arm draped across my waist. I really don't need a whole lot to be happy though I suppose that one romantic outing now and again certainly can't hurt. It does wonder. I know we'll both be relaxed as can be come morning and that might just be for the best.

He mumbles something against my shoulder, wiggling to settle closer and I laugh, shifting my weight just so, giving him more room. At times I think he'd try all he could so we could be just one, he presses up so close that if it weren't for our slightly different skin tone, I don't think you'd really be able to tell who is where. I'm perfectly fine with that.


	23. Fountain

"You were right, I think. This place is huge, there's room and then some. We could even finally have a real reading corner and a more comfortable area for the computers, I think we could even have an area for kids with padded seatings and all." His eyes, oh they were so bright now. After his little breakdown about the idiocy of human though I'm pretty sure it is idiocy in all its form, I can imagine that demons might have made the same building mistakes, I gave him a few days to just relax, to not think about anything relating to the library in any way.

Of course, I made sure to keep his mind occupied on other things and he was too exhausted most of the time to even really form a coherent sentence. That was the way I'd wanted things to be. He needed to forget for a couple of days at least and that turned out to be mission more than possible. I know just which buttons to push.

Once I'd figured that he had rested plenty, I took him to the church. I'd called the guy who was selling the building first to set up an appointment and he was more than pleased to have a potential buyer come around to look at the place. He looked surprised, the seller that was, to hear that we were thinking of turning the old building into a library to replace the one that was falling apart downtown. Surprise aside, he opened up pretty quickly to the idea and I could see his mind coming up with dozens of plans as to how it could be achieved, even if it would be out of his hand once the sale took place.

Eoghan scrutinized the place from top to bottom, asked question after question, from the state of the foundations to the roof and everything in between. We even went out back and that was where he mostly stopped in his tracks and he laughed. I admit I was a little surprised too, I hadn't expected to see a fountain, of all things, in the church's backyard. I have no idea why it was there at all to begin with though it was beautiful and clean though currently not running and I figured it hadn't run since the church had been put on sale.

The man, seeing our puzzled look, went on to explain that it seems as though, during the summer months, the fountain was used as a baptizing area. I exchanged a look with Eoghan but we let it be, if they wanted to use a fountain, it was up to them, really. It was lovely, it had nothing on it that would state it had been made with religion in mind. There were no crosses, no carved out saviour, no angels, nothing.

Eoghan took a good, long look at the yard and he nodded with a smile. It could very well work, a sort of outside reading area with the fountain and all. 

We told the seller that we would have someone come along to examine everything though we trusted that he'd had his own professional do the once over. We just wanted to be sure that everything would last for a long time yet before we might decide on buying. He went with the idea, approving of it really and we each went our separate ways. I knew just who to get in touch with and I knew that if there was so much as a tiny little crack somewhere she would tell us. I wasn't worried.

"But I still don't really understand the whole fountain thing." I shrugged, chuckling softly as I did. The fountain didn't make much sense to me either but I didn't much care, it was there, that was all there was to it in the end.

"It doesn't matter much whether you understand the whole fountain thing or not, Eoghan. Think about it, it's in good condition, there's nothing on it that really screams 'religion' and once we replace the windows with just regular stained glass and not depictions of this so called saviour's life, I think we'll be pretty good to go. A little scrubbing here and there, some floor covering in places. Of course it's likely we'll need to buy new shelves but I think you'd already planned on that one anyway so it's not much different from what you'd decided on from the start."

He nodded, looking up at the wide doors with a little smile on his lips. It was a little distance from downtown, just barely, but I knew it was going to be exactly what he'd wanted. It would require less work, it would take less time to prepare and what would more than likely take longest was set up all the different areas, the shelves and move the books. I figured that right after the holidays, as the new year was bound to begin, we'd get that transfer going and we'd post up a sign outside the old library to tell them the place had been moved and set up the old building up for sale, making sure to let folks know the amount of work that needed to go into it, that they were better off tearing it down and starting over.

I've never believed in hiding the truth from people, at least the truth about these things. The truth about my roots was something else altogether and people weren't ready for that kind of honesty.

As we walked away from the church altogether, Eoghan kept on glancing back and I had to keep myself from laughing. I knew he was hooked on this building and I'd done a pretty good job of showing it to him. It would be so much less stress than what he was going through at that very moment.

"Thank you, Lex." Finally, he moved to link our fingers as he stepped beyond the fences that had been set up to keep kids out of the area while the building was on sale, something about keeping the walls free of graffiti and the windows unbroken. I'd seen it happen in the states but I'd never really seen it here in France in the little time I'd been about, still.

"Nothing to thank me for and you know this as well as I do. I just saw the place and I thought you might like it. That you came home pissed at the world helped me in making that decision but that's all there is to that. It's just a little bit of this and that." I shrugged, squeezing his fingers gently as we kept walking. We'd come on foot, had taken the bus. The day had been chilly, almost cold but we thought that a good walk would keep our minds clear.

"Still, you put up with me when I get all rawr-world and at times I'm afraid you might get sick of my childish antics." I stopped, looking at him for a long moment before I shook my head.

"Eoghan, you're my world, you've been my world for decades and while I know that I nearly ruined us and again by disappearing when I felt my control slip, I would never grow tired of you or sick of your childish antics, as you put it. You're perfect in my eyes and I wouldn't change a single thing about you." I squeezed his fingers again and he breathed in deeply, holding it in before he was exhaling. He nodded, a slow sort of nod.

"I will never, ever, I tell you, abandon you. If I do, it will be because of things that are absolutely out of my control and I will fight tooth and nail against whatever that might be so I can still be with you. I realized how wrong I'd been to leave you all those years and then come back and expect things to go back to the way they'd been before, I don't want to do that kind of thing anymore, I just can't."

His eyes grew wet then and I pulled him closer, hugging him fiercely. He laughed against my shoulders, wiping his eyes before we stepped apart and simply started walking back to the bus stop. We all had our days, I knew. I wouldn't hold this one against him.


	24. Peace

As he leaves his crutch in his bedroom and slowly makes his way into his bedroom, Armin briefly ponders the quietness of his mind, the almost utter peace he has found within himself now that the voices are nearly, oh absolutely nearly silent. A few days back, as he was soaking in a steaming tub with just a bare hint of tea tree oil to scent things up, he let his mind wander and drift. When he focused on his surroundings again, he realized how much quieter the already whisper-soft voices were. As if not focusing at all was the better way to keep them out.

He leans over the tub, fiddling with the temperature until he finds the perfect one and he lets a few drops of oil fall into the steaming water. It is hot, hotter than he's ever really taken baths before but it helps loosen his muscles in ways that he has never really thought possible until that point in his life.

The soft scent of tea tree oil fills the bathroom and he sighs as he moves to sit on the small, low-backed chair he keeps for safety purposes in his bathroom. He undresses, the motions slow and careful. He lets his mind drift about, not even focusing on a single thought at this point. His mind is quiet, even the whispering notes usually hidden by the bracelets are silent. For a second he wonders if he's not dreamed everything that has led him to this point in his life, since he's first met Eoghan but the simple sight of his elegant bathroom, something he knows he never could have afforded by himself, reminds him that it all is real.

Once bare, he looks at the bracelet that still adorns his wrist and he tugs it off. The voices come though they are slow to, as if someone is slowly turning the volume on. He clears his mind as best as he can and the volume settles. As if he had several people all around him talking all at once. It is nothing like the yelling that was going through his mind before he had even learned he could control the gift at all and he marvels at this progress.

He slips the bracelet back over his wrist with a soft note and the voices go silent. He moves from the chair to the tub and he turns the water off. There are two bathrooms in his home, the one in the master bedroom with the walk-in tub, the one he uses most of the time and then there's this one. This one with the full tub where he has to be careful of how he steps inside though he set up a bar by the side of the tub so he can step in and out a bit easier.

At times, he figures that it just is one of those things he deserves, to settle in the tub, the water up to his neck so that he can soak. He cannot really soak in his other tub, the water doesn't come up quite high enough and he can hardly settle to be up to his neck in it. So there it is, at times he picks the second bathroom, just being twice as careful about what he does so he doesn't break his neck.

Finally, with almost practiced motions, he eases into the tub. He leans his neck against the bath pillow he has and closes his eyes as the heat from the water envelops him utterly, cloaking him in heat and comfort. He lets his mind wander once more, appreciating the silence as it surrounds him as if it was one with the water.

  


As he opens his eyes, his mind draws him into a mindscape. This is not his first visit there but he always finds himself startled when it happens. It isn't something he controls yet, at least not when it comes to opening the mindscape. He knows how to step out of it however and he's grateful at least for that much.

"I really should tell Eoghan about this." He knows he should but it seems as though it slips his mind every time he pulls from the mindscape. So long as he feels no danger from the area, he believes that he still has plenty of time before he can bring it up. Not that he's trying to stall, his mind simply seems to refuse to recall to bring it up when they meet up.

He looks at his surroundings, as the forest, the thick grass beneath his toes. He looks down at himself and laughs as he notices he's as bare now as he is in his tub. "I shouldn't be surprised."

He murmurs the words to himself and shakes his head as he looks left and right, trying to see if there isn't something that catches his eyes. There usually isn't. When he rests and relaxes in his tub, his mind simply seems to pull up a peaceful image from he isn't sure where but it is there and it is beautiful. There is a warm breeze, the scent of blooming flowers, the grass so thick that it feels like a shaggy carpet beneath his feet and between his toes.

Knowing that he will slip from the mindscape when he is ready to, he sits where he was standing and he then settles down on his back. He stretches, moving to set his arms beneath his head. He feels confident in this place in ways he knows he might never feel in the real world. His body is thin, it has scars and reminders of the life he grew up living. His legs aren't quite the same length which leads him to walking with his crutch in a permanent way. He cannot show his body this way to anyone. 

Andoni had been different of course, the first few times, Armin had asked that the lights be all off and that he could at least keep a long shirt on. It had been awkward but so absolutely pleasurable. In time, Andoni had managed to convince him that his body was no horror show though he still covered up in the presence of others.

He sighs, a soft, content sort of exhale as he recalls the time he spent with his then lover, taken too soon from him. His body stirs in memory but he ignores it. It has been so long since he's done that kind of thing that he doesn't really know if he even should anymore. Eventually, his body calms and his mind wanders off to other memories, those less private but still as beautiful, in his mind. He knows that when the water cools, his mind will send a signal and that is when he will step from the water, dry up and probably settle up in the living room with his favourite book on his lap.

For now, he daydreams, even in his mindscape. The breeze is drifting along, the leaves are rustling and a few birds are singing not too far from him. He knows that this is as peaceful as his life might ever get. He also knows that this is not something he should try to escape into. Slipping away from the real world to take refuge in a mind-made world seems a foolish sort of idea though he knows that at least, while he's just soaking in a tub, letting the worries of his days slip away from him, drifting into his thoughts is no crime.

  


Eventually, he opens his eyes again. The water is cooling around him and he slowly sits back up, moving to unplug the tub so that it might drain. He waits on the water being completely gone before he gets out of the tub, knowing he might just break his neck otherwise. He dries up, wraps himself up in a long robe and walks slowly back to his room to find something more covering to put on. 

Once he's dressed as comfortably as possible, he locates his book and heads for the living room. He feels at peace, he feels as though the whole word has been paused and he laughs softly at the idea as he settles down into the plush armchair. He knows he'll just read, forget the world for a while longer. More than likely fall asleep with his face in that book but that's hardly new. He can't complain.


	25. Ready for Anything

"So if they were to attack right about the moment, I think we'd have a good chance of survival." Agni's words were thoughtful as the trio walked back down to their floor and then into their apartment. Mira was one step behind and his face was clearly stating that he wasn't sure he understood the discussion at this point.

"I'm still not sure I get it. What is the point of zombies?"

Laughing softly, Cyrille shook his head and stepped back, wrapping his arm around Mira's shoulder once they'd stepped back into their home. The movie had been interesting though he'd seen it before but the twins's reactions, as always, had been enough to keep him entertained. "It's not all that complicated, though it's all just science fiction, really. Zombies are folks that have died but are somehow still alive. They're out to eat everyone's brain or infect them, it depends on the person."

"But what's the point of them?"

"There isn't much of a point, Mira. It's like most any other monster story out there." Shaking his head, Mira sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Well I still don't get it and I don't understand what they're supposed to be useful for."

"They're not, that's the whole point of them. Stop thinking about it so much, Mira, you're only to keep on hitting walls. With my gift and yours though, I'm pretty sure we'd be ready for anything." Agni grinned at the idea, rubbing his hands together a little almost as if he were looking forward to a zombie invasion so he could prove his point.

"I don't know, Agni, in most cases, zombies tend to only stop moving when you blow out the brain and unless you can do that with your fire, they're still going to keep coming."

"I hadn't thought about it that way, huh."

Throwing his hands up to the sky, Mira muttered and left the other two to their discussion. He really couldn't grasp the point or interest of zombies. Then again, most movies where monsters of the sort were concerned, he couldn't really find an interest. He knew it was fantasy, science fiction, make believe really but he still couldn't bring himself to care about any of it. He preferred things he could touch, things he could wrap his mind around and understand, things that made sense in some way. Zombies were in no way, any of those things.

Watching his brother go, Agni rolled his eyes and stretched before he flopped down on the couch with a yawn. "He's just annoyed for some reason because he didn't like the movie. He's been cranky lately, such a spoilsport."

"He's also been sick for a few days and I think that might have been a first for him. You've had your cranky days, Agni, and no one has complained about it and I'm pretty sure no one's talked about you behind your back during that time. I know I haven't at the very least and I can't imagine Mira talking to himself about your crankiness."

With a huff, Agni crossed his arms and stared ahead, as if those words had completely ruined his mood. 

"Don't be childish, all I'm saying is that everyone is entitled to having bad days." Cyrille's voice quiet, thoughtful as he shook his head with a sigh and left one twin sulking and went to see the other one, just to be sure he was okay. He didn't much like the idea of the brothers fighting though he knew there wasn't much he could do about it. Fights were inevitable and no one was always a hundred percent happy.

He knocked on Mira's door gently, waiting to hear an answer of any sort before he stepped inside. It took almost a full minute before there was a sigh on the other side of that very door and a quiet 'I don't even want to talk but whatever, just come in' was offered. He shook his head and carefully pushed the door open, closing it behind himself once he was inside.

"They're just make believe, Mira. It's not as though anyone has to have the last words." Cyrille shrugged and Mira echoed the motion, sitting somewhat hunched over at his desk.

"I don't really care."

"If you didn't care, you wouldn't be reacting this way, it's almost as if you're taking this personally." 

Mira's shoulder tensed but went lax moments later. He shrugged again and dropped his head into his hands. "I don't even know why it's bugging me that much. I don't want to care, it makes no sense."

Cyrille stepped closer, his hands moving to carefully settle on Mira's shoulders where they gave a gentle squeeze, followed by a rub. Giving massages wasn't something he excelled at but he tried to tell himself it couldn't hurt. It helped that Mira wasn't tense beneath his lightly working hands. "It's just one of those things, at times the weirdest of stuff is going to set us off and we won't even be able to understand why. Maybe you should try for a shower to relax you and read a book on one of those subjects you'd rather your mind focus on."

Mira mumbled, his words inaudible but he was growing lax under those hands. Cyrille assumed the mumbling was closer to mindless uttering than anything that could hold any true meaning. Eventually, he pulled his hands back but leaned down to kiss the teen's cheek softly. "Go on and have a shower, read a book, I'm sure you'll be able to manage some rest after that, it's late."

With that, he excused himself from the bedroom and slipped back into the living room where the other half of the twinset still was sulking. He rolled his eyes, mussing Agni's hair before he was stepping around the couch to sit down next to the other.

"I think we've managed to avoid a war being started." Cyrille kept his voice light, trying for amusement and Agni rolled his eyes lightly though he sighed moment later and sunk a little deeper into the couch.

"We all have bad days, this is just one of them, don't worry about it. How about we watch another movie before we sleep?"

Agni's eyes brightened at the idea and he was on his feet within seconds. He walked to the small collection they had and dug through it. He huffed as he went through the pile once and then looked at it a bit more carefully. Obviously, he wasn't really finding what he was hoping for as a movie but Cyrille let it be. He knew there were no zombie movies in that collection and he figured it was for the best. Zombie discussions could be had at a later date when bad days were a thing of the past.

After a few more moments of looking, Agni picked up one particular box and set the disc into the player. From where he was crouched, he moved to turn the television on, put the box down and wandered back to the couch where he flopped again, almost bumping into Cyrille as he did. He laughed softly. 

"Couldn't find what I really wanted but this one is good too." From the dvd's menu, Cyrille couldn't really make out what the movie might have been and he didn't ask. If it was something Agni was wanting to watch, then they'd watch it and that would just be that, in the end, that was all he cared about at this point, a little bit of peace.

"So long as we keep the volume to a decent level so as to not bother your brother, I know he's probably going to be reading for a while before he sleeps." 

Rolling his eyes, Agni reached for the remote, checking the volume to make sure it was just so and then pressed play on the movie. He didn't much care if it bothered his brother right now but he wasn't all that cruel and he could try to be nice.


	26. That's the Key

I've always loved riddles. I'm not sure why. I suppose they give me something to focus on, something to sink my proverbial teeth into. At times, though I suppose I could say most of the time, when I find riddles to try to solve, I manage to find the answer pretty quickly. Those aren't really riddles I much care for. Now and again though, I'll stumble onto a particular riddle that will leave me scratching my head for a while. I'm sure a lot of folks would find that absolutely annoying but I love it, it feels like I've managed to have myself a good cup of strong coffee. I'm strange that way.

There's one riddle I've found lately, I come back to it every now and again but I still haven't found the answer. I don't really obsess over these things, they're just little extras I keep my hands on so I don't feel like my life has settled into a perfect little routine. I don't know how people handle routines but I just can't handle it. There is nothing more routine-like than going to work at the library, placing books back where they belong, scan books people want to borrow and do it all over again but it is what I do for a living, it is what I love, there just is always enough going on each day to make today stand out from yesterday.

Some of these riddles often require keys and finding those are what takes me more time than not. Once I've managed to find those, that's that, I can figure out the rest and I put it on the pile of 'done' riddles. I don't necessarily dig another riddle up the moment I've figured out the one I was working on for a while, that wouldn't really make much sense. No, instead I read the old riddle over and I check the answer to it to make sure it does make sense. Once that's done, now and again I'll actually look through the books I've found them in to see if I've found the right answer or not. 

After all, finding an answer to a riddle is one thing but finding the right answer is even more important, after all. Not all books offer answers and there are some older riddles that still are unsolved in my desk. When it takes me too long to find an answer, I tend to put it aside and focus on something new. Once the new one has been solved, I spare a glance at the old ones I haven't managed to find the proper clue for yet, perhaps hoping that the new knowledge I've learned over time might help me shed a bit more light on everything.

It doesn't always work but I suppose that is the point of it all. Not all riddles are meant to be solved though that seems to defeat the purpose of them, in the long run.

Just last night, I was reading a passage in the current book I have on my night stand and something clicked. I read it over, three times to be sure I hadn't imagined it, I put my bookmark right there, closed the book and put it down. I made my way off towards my study room and my desk where I made to dig through all those little bits of papers I have my riddles on. I like writing the riddles down on little bits of cardboard and paper, it helps me to better understand them and it just makes everything more uniform. I may not like routine but I like things when they are uniform enough. I suppose that's why I don't much like myself.

So I sat at my desk, I dug through my bits of paper and cardboard and I found that one old riddle that had been following me for a few year at least at that point. I took it out, closed the drawer and looked at it. I read it once, twice and a third time to make sure and there it was, right in my face, as if it had been waiting to be exposed to light again. I took a pencil, another piece of paper and I scribbled, oh I wrote and scribbled, almost a whole page of little notes as I worked the riddle out part by part.

By the end, I had myself the answer, the very key that made the riddle seem so easy when you stepped back and really looked at it from a new point of view. I wrote down my answer, read the riddle, read the answer and told myself that this was going to be it, that this was the answer I'd been trying to find for so long.

Instead of hopping directly online to check it or trying to find the book in which I'd found that riddle, I put the paper and bit of cardboard away. I set them partly under my lamp so they wouldn't go floating off. It was late and I knew I'd had to write down the flash of genus that had crossed my mind otherwise it would have more than likely fled me. Now that I was done, all I really wanted was to head back to bed where I'd been doing my reading.

Once back in bed, I went for the book again, not much caring to leave a chapter undone. I opened I back to the page I had bookmarked and I continued reading, it was just a couple of pages more. Once the new chapter appeared on the following page, I set my bookmark again, closed the door, set it down and settled against my pillows to sleep and rest.

  


The shining morning sun pulled me from my restful sleep. I looked at the book on my bedside a moment and told myself it might not have been the best thing to read before sleep, my dreams had been less than clear, confused and somewhat dark from what little I recalled, not quite the kind of sleep I tended to hope for, though I was more than aware I couldn't really control what I dreamed about.

I went about my morning's mock-routine, I washed up, I got dressed, I ate a little something and I pondered checking online to see if my answer to the riddle was the right one, if I'd found that one key I had been needing all these years. I decided against it for the time being, knowing it would very likely end up with my being late heading out for work. Riddles are just one of those things, they have my whole attention and I get sucked into whatever it is that I find about them when I get to looking around for more information on them.

I knew I could look it up when I came home or even look it up while at work depending on how quiet or not the day was going to be. With Eoghan now having set his sights on that beautiful church to transform it into the new library, the workers have gone, the place is quieter and people just are busy with their lives as a whole during this time of the year. 

It's not to say there wasn't enough work to keep busy with, there was plenty but it did usually get mostly done in the earlier hours, leaving a bit of very quiet time before the day was over and before it was time to head on home.

I decided against bringing the riddle with me to work, figuring I had plenty of time to look it over once I was home again tonight. It wasn't going anywhere and the world wasn't about to end—though one never could really know about that.

I like riddles, other people like sports or group games or dancing. Riddles are just one of those things that I know don't judge me and that's all I want.


	27. It's Futile

They had been walking together, side by side, bundled up securely, a paper bag of freshly baked and still warm bread inside their reusable bag when suddenly the rain started to pour out of absolutely no where. They took refuge, as best as they could, under an awning, looking out to the sudden downpour, not really able to understand where it had come from.

"The sky was clear and bright when we came out, where the hell did this come from?" Quentin looked out from his huddled spot, knowing he was still getting somewhat wet as the awning wasn't exactly that big though it did some of the job it was supposed to, that was keeping them from getting soaked to the bone in this more than sudden pour of absolutely cold rain.

Yael, standing next to him, shrugged but stepped back a little more to move away from the edge of the awning, his pants were already beginning to get wet, this hiding out thing was going to be futile, he had a feeling, they'd be wet one way or another. "I don't know, it was chilly but clear out just moments ago and now we're just- we can't stay here, Quentin, this place isn't even staying dry. We've got hoods, we've got out coats, the only thing we can really do is run home. We'll be wetter but we'll be home sooner and we can have a hot shower to warm back up again."

It did seem to be the only option, the rain was falling thickly, as if someone had really overfilled the cloud and had decided that this very particular spot was where it was supposed to pour out. As he tried to look off in the distance though he couldn't make out much for how bad the rain was, he was sure he could see where it seemed to more or less literally stop. At least he assumed that this was what he was seeing, he wasn't sure.

Quentin looked in the direction his companion was looking and he braced himself. He pulled his hood over his head, knowing it wouldn't do much good but there was only so much they could do. The rain didn't look to be about to stop and he didn't really want to stay where he was for much longer. "All right, on three we just run. I can carry the bag, don't let go of my hand, I don't really want to lose you in this rain!"

Yael laughed, his head shaken though he pulled his hood up and slipped his hand to Quentin's own. He could barely see across the street, he knew the rain was going to sting something bad but they had to get out from under that awning and they had to get home. They'd heal from whatever this rain would do to them, he just hoped their bag was waterproof enough to keep their breakfast bread intact.

His hand securely wrapped around Yael's own, Quentin counted up and on three they took off at a run. He almost hit a pole but Yael's sudden tug at his hand moved him just enough to avoid an accident that would have been more than a little painful. After a couple of blocks, they slowed down, just enough. The rain was letting up where they were at and they were already soaked to the bone, it was unpleasant.

  


"I wonder if Mira could have control over that kind of thing." The bread was now sitting on the counter, cut into thick slices. Yael still had a towel over his shoulders and about the end of his hair. They had showered and dried up, their coats, pockets emptied, had been dropped into the dryer for some much needed help. They'd known that just hanging them up wouldn't have done any good.

"I guess it depends on how well he controls his gift and how strong he is. I mean, think about it, that was a lot of rain and some heavy stuff, maybe he could, maybe he couldn't I don't really know for sure but I guess it doesn't really matter. His gift is his to control."

"Yeah I know but I mean, imagine if he'd been out there with us, you think he could have been able to keep us dry?" Yael took one slice of the bread, buttering it up just slightly, just enough. Quentin blinked, shrugging lightly as he did the same. "It's possible he would have been able to but he wasn't with us, we got ourselves soaked but the bread still is a little warm and I think that makes up for it."

With a laugh, Yael shook his head and gathered his plate of fruits and cheeses before he settled at the table with the bread and his glass of tea. They had been soaked to the very bone when they'd come back inside, their clothes absolutely wet. The reusable bag where they'd stored the bread had begun to be soaked through just the same but barely, the paper bag the breads themselves had been in still had been dry for the most part. Just a couple of wet spots but that had been it.

"What have we learned today?"

"We take our umbrella with us no matter that the weather is absolutely perfect and nice?" Yael snickered, shaking his head as he took a bite of his sliced bread with a soft sigh. This was good food though he still felt a little chilled inside. "Or we ask Mira to walk with us."

"I don't even know if our umbrellas would have held for how hard it was falling down. I had leftover bits of already healing bruises on my arms when we came inside, that was bad. Almost like hail but too wet and not solid enough though it felt pretty solid when it fell."

"I guess it doesn't really matter much at this point, we're inside, it's warm, we've got our food and while I'm still a little chilled, at least I'm mostly dry and I know that if I still do feel chilly I can take a bath later on. That or we push up the temperature in the pool and we have ourselves a long swim and dip."

"Two very valid options, for now, food, yes?"

"Well I'm already eating, you're the one who's just talking and not eating."

Quentin, rolling his eyes, took a bite out of his bread slice after having added a bit of jam to the very end. He knew there was nothing he could do about the strange bit of rain that had fallen over their heads but he still couldn't really wrap his mind about the sudden rain, it made no sense, the sky had been perfectly clear when they'd stepped out and it still had been absolutely clear when they had stepped out of the bakery.

It baffled him, confused him really. He knew about freak storms but this hadn't really seemed like it. Not that there was much he could do about any of it at this point so he tried to let it be. Focused on what was in front of him instead of thinking about what had happened in the past. "I'm eating, I'm just trying to understand what happened. I keep on telling myself that it just happened and that we can't really change any of it but I still can't really let it go."

Shrugging, Yael offered him a half-smile, as if to let him know that there really wasn't a whole lot they could do about the situation.

"What if it was someone who made it happen? What if someone out there is out to get us?"

"You've watched too many James Bond movies, Quentin. I can't imagine why anyone out there would want to do that kind of thing to us, we keep to ourselves, we don't bother anyone, why try to, what, soak us to death? I just don't know. Try not to think about it, really."

He did try, he would but that was as futile as staying under the awning had been.


	28. Your Slogan

"Oh, oh! What about 'Even your wet dreams are made of chocolate'?" Besides him, Lex groaned and rolled his eyes. Eoghan had been trying to find a new slogan for his chocolaterie. All of them were corny but every new one he uttered was even cornier than the last. He didn't know how much longer he could last and not begin to shake the other to get him to stop. It had been amusing at first but now it was just flat out silly and it made no sense to him, none whatsoever.

"Eoghan, enough, everything you utter has a dirty side to it. While it might bring in the attention of some customers I'm pretty sure it would scare off the rest."

"But Lex, you're doing adult chocolates more than anything else later, I'm pretty sure most folks who order from you are consenting adults willing to hear that kind of slogan." Lex rolled his eyes again, reaching out to lightly swat at his companion and lover.

"At this time of the year, yes, I seem to get more adult-shaped chocolate but during the rest of the year, that's not the case. The few I get during the summer since I don't really do bigger pieces are all normal things and-"

"You can't want to claim that the requests you get for Valentine's day are 'normal', let alone safe for kids."

"Well no, of course not."

"So why not something with a bit of a naughty feel to it?"

"I don't really need a slogan, Eoghan. Information about me gets out through word of mouth. People talk about their good experience to their friends and those people get in touch with me. Then there's the website and even that is a chore to keep up to date. I really should just set up different pictures of what I can do without custom information and set up the rest with a 'contact me if you want anything else, most everything is possible for a price' or something."

"You're boring, Lex." Eoghan stuck his tongue out, knowing he was childish and Lex chuckled softly, a low, slightly tired sort of sound. There had been a huge disturbance in the air in the earlier morning and he hadn't been sure what to make of it, it had woken him up out of a dead sleep, way early in the morning, earlier than he usually was up and about and he hadn't been able to get back to sleep once it had passed.

Letting go of the whole idea for the slogan, Eoghan took a moment to look Lex over, a soft frown finding his lips as he did. "You honestly look a little like shit and you've been up earlier than usual, are you okay?"

Shrugging, Lex ran a hand through his hair before he was looking out the nearest window, off into the distance, as far as he could see. "I don't know, I just felt something wrong this morning, as though a gifted person had pulled massive amount of energies into a single point. I don't know why."

Lips still to a frown, Eoghan scooted closer, looking up to his lover a moment, worry etched all over his face. "You're saying that there might be someone out there who might be using their gifts for reasons they shouldn't? On a big scale?"

Lex answered the question with a shrug and a sigh, rubbing a hand over his face again. He hadn't liked the sensation of it though he hadn't really felt anything evil in that energy shift, he'd just felt the shift. "It didn't feel like someone trying to harm someone else, just like, I don't know, it almost felt like an idiot trying to play a joke or something, I don't know. I'm surprised you didn't feel it, you're usually attuned to these things more than me."

"I usually am but not when it comes to someone with a gift like yours. I'm so used to the fluctuations of your gift that anything that might feel like that will go right on past my radar and I won't know any better." His voice was softly apologetic and Lex shook his head, managing the hint of a smile. 

"Well, nothing seems to have exploded, I see no smoke, so no fire and nothing looks out of place, maybe I just imagined it." It seemed more than a little unlikely but there wasn't much they could do about it at that point.

"If it happens again, soon as you feel something you tell me and I'll try to reach out in that direction to see what I might be able to feel, otherwise, I guess we'll just have to leave it be. We're all right, there's no one out there in this city who knows about us or our gifts and who might be out to try to hurt us." He was trying to sound reassuring and he didn't feel as though his words held much strength in that regard. "We can bring it up to the others, see if they haven't sensed anything themselves and if they have, we can try to find more information in whatever way is available to us."

Lex nodded, trying not to think too much about whatever it was he had felt. He didn't know what it was and focusing on it now wouldn't really get him anywhere, he knew. He tried to leave it be. He even plastered on a smile of sorts before he turned his gaze back to his life mate. "So, how about you fling another slogan at me to see if you still suck at them?"

  


The rest of their day had gone without a hint. There hadn't been another surge, there had been no news of anything unusual happening in the city though the weather folks had talked about a sudden downpour in one particular area of the city while there really hadn't been any clouds in the sky.

There wasn't a slogan picked yet and Lex still was of the mind that he didn't really need one. Eoghan had stopped uttering the silliest of phrases that came into his mind and they had spent most of their days just relaxing and doing little more than what was absolutely necessary: rest, food, slight bathroom breaks, a check-up on Adela and that was mostly it.

The setting sun found them settled in front of the crackling fireplace, the tie-dyed green and black blanket set out over them. Words were not uttered, only the quietness of their breathing was present as they relaxed and appreciated the peace that was offered to them at that point. It was rare, as of the past while, for them to have a day where nothing was required of them. No commissions, no work to be done on the building. The paperwork had been written up, or was in the process of being written up for the church to be bought and eventually—quickly Eoghan hoped—fixed so it could be turned into the best library ever.

"Lex?" Eventually, Eoghan did shift, turning his head just so, barely. He didn't want to move, he was too comfortable to move.

"Mmhm?" Lex's answer was a simple little sound, he kept his eyes closed, his breathing slow and steady, he too was plenty comfortable and didn't really feel like moving. 

Above him, Eoghan chuckled and closed his eyes, settling his weight so he could press his face to his lover's throat with a low, content note. "Love you."

The words, not often spoken though they still were known, warmed Lex who breathed a sigh of content. He curled his arms tighter around the other, holding him as close as he dared. "And I you, lame slogan and all."

"HEY!" Eoghan straightened up, their trapped heat escaping with his motions as he moved to pout down at the other. "I resent that, take it back."

"Nope, I'm sorry but your slogans are lame, I love you anyway. If you don't settle and keep more heat from escaping, I'm not giving you any tonight."

That seemed to do the trick well enough and Eoghan huffed—a playful sound this time—before he settled back down again, tucking the blanket just so about them. "You play dirty."

"You love me for it."

"And I do, I'm screwed."

"Yup."


	29. A Pile of Papers

He wasn't in the habit of wearing the suit and tie. He found it absolutely uncomfortable. Unlike him, Lex wore suits as if he'd worn them all of his life and in a certain way it was almost the truth. For all those endless hours and days, weeks, months and years in certain case, he spent working on particular lawsuits, with particular clients, the suit and tie had always been present. Eoghan, much more in the habit of preferring to own and run establishments such as bars and far-from-fancy restaurants had never needed the suit and tie but it seemed that in this particular meeting, it had been preferable. At least, those had been Lex's words.

"It's going to be for all of about an hour, two at most, Eoghan. We go up there, we sit together, his people on one side, the two of us on the other. I don't mind sitting in as your attorney for this one, my name is still pretty well known in the world and I haven't died yet, just retired because I had bigger projects to work on. They hand us the paperwork, I look it over, I take note of things if there's anything shifty going on and that's that. You sign, they hand us the key, we hand them the first payment over—yes, I know, we could just pay it all in one go but humans seem to prefer things when they're paid in parts—and we all head off, happy and pleased with what we now have."

It hadn't really made putting the suit on any more comforting. The tie around his throat left him feeling as if someone were trying to choke him, that was one of the reasons why he hated turtlenecks too. Always that sensation of his throat being squeezed until something terrible happened.

He laughed softly at the thought, Lex blinking at him from the driver's side a moment. They were almost there, driving downtown to one of the most recent buildings there was. Eoghan didn't really understand why they couldn't have taken care of it all in the church but he wasn't about to really bitch and complain, all he wanted was to get that paperwork signed, make sure everything was in order and then get back out so he could bring in a crew to start working on the library. 

The first things he wanted were the windows and they would have to do them quickly, with the late autumn, almost winter chill settling on them, the air would be more than a little cold. It was the only work they'd have to do outside. Everything else was inside and that meant they wouldn't really have to stop once it started snowing, so long as the heat was on, that was.

"I was just thinking about how much I hate wearing neckties. Though they're fabulous on you and I used to love latching onto one to pull you closer to me. Neckties and turtlenecks, I always feel as though they're squeezing my throat, I can't help it." "It's going to be a short lived thing and once we're back in the car, you can loosen the tie and pop open the first two buttons, I promise."

  


The building looked brand new, shiny almost even. Eoghan couldn't recall seeing it get built up and he knew that at the size it had, he could have seen it from the roof of his home, even if they were pretty far away. Maybe Yael had seen it be built.

They stepped out of the vehicle, breath fogging out of their mouth as they moved to the doors to step inside. The place looked absolutely modern, shiny surfaces, sharp angles but still rather minimalistic in look. It was strange. He didn't much care for it. Then again, with his love of all things old, it couldn't be all that surprising.

Lex kept a step behind him though Eoghan could still feel his presence strongly at his side. He wasn't afraid or even uncomfortable at the idea of being where he was, this wasn't new, this whole buying a building or property thing but this felt different in its own way, he couldn't really explain it or understand it.

They stopped at the front desk where a young woman with pretty eyes and an easy smile asked to know the reason for their visit. Eoghan told her they were meeting up with Mr. Sartain. Her smile brightened as she looked them over briefly, trying to be discreet though she wasn't quite as much as she believed. She told them to head to the last elevator on the right and to head to the top floor, the secretary there would then tell them which direction to take. Before they left, she gave them a magnetic card and asked them to bring it back down before they left, if they'd please.

As they walked away, Eoghan breathed another soft chuckle. The whole situation felt a little surreal at this point and it amused him more than anything else.

"I don't know which one of us she was checking out but she wasn't exactly subtle about it." He murmured the words as he took one quiet look at the elevator. There were no buttons to press to call it but there was a reader for a card so he swiped it and the elevator doors swung open.

They stepped inside the spacious moving box, the walls clear and reflective. Eoghan turned to study the floor number buttons on the wall and found only two. One for the ground floor and one for the top floor. "Guess this one only goes to the top, I suppose it explains the card."

The box's motions were smooth and after a few moments, the bell rang and the doors, on the opposite side of where they had stepped in, slid open. They stepped out, approached the front desk and were directed towards a meeting room with quite the view. Eoghan didn't doubt that a lot of folks had probably complained about the height of this building, it towered over everything else and it made their skyline less than appealing with but a single building standing out so tall.

They were seated and before long joined by two men in pristine suits.

  


As he dropped the magnetic card off at the front desk on the first floor, Eoghan lightly loosened the knot of his necktie, popping his first button undone. He was done with it trying to choke him silly and that was all there was to that. He offered the young woman a smile and a wink before he joined Lex who was rolling his eyes at him.

"You shouldn't be giving her false hopes, you know."

"I'll never see her again, it can't hurt, really." He mumbled the words in reply, buttoning up his coat to his throat as they stepped outside. Lex handed him the small suitcase in which all the paperwork was, precious paperwork that he would need to keep somewhere safe and he would. Eoghan hugged it to himself as he sat in the car before he settled it between his feet on the floor of the car.

"So you finally have yourself a good building that won't fall apart on you in the next few years, how does it feel to know you're bettering the world?" His voice was softly amused as he pulled them from the parking lot and eased back into the street. 

Eoghan chuckled, looking up to the building one last time before it was trying to disappear behind them as they drove away. "I just want to make sure Armin and the kids work in a good environment and I want people to not be afraid too visit their library. So long as I don't have to step into that brand spanking new building of theirs ever again, I think I'll be happy. All the smooth lines and up to date everything creeped me out."

"It was strange, I admit. I'm pretty sure our seller at the top was one of us, there was just something about him." Lex shrugged, turning at the intersection. "You shouldn't have to step in there ever again as it is. We have all the paperwork, we have all the keys and I forgot to tell you but the guy you talked to about the stained glass windows called back to say that whatever you'd ordered was now being processed, how are you going to work that one out?"

"Well, I figured that for now, just to change the windows, I was going to have regular, plain old windows set up. I know the stained glass order is going to take some months to complete. So I figured I'd get the contractors fit in the new, plain windows so they'd have that done, then they can work inside and whenever the new windows are ready, more than likely around spring next year, I can have someone come in and change those around."

It did sound like a plan to him and he knew he was going to be busy again, not half as busy as he'd been with the old library, no, the job that had needed done in there had been extensive, this was different. The building was bigger but in better condition. "This is going to be a fun project."

"Better be fun, you were getting pretty cranky about the other one, let me tell you."

"Sorry."

"All forgiven, let's just focus on the present and future."

"Let's."


	30. Generosity

"You're already starting up another box?" Yael looked up from the box he had sat out just against the wall of their guest room. It was empty most of the time so he didn't feel too bad about putting the box there, it wouldn't be in anyone's way.

"Well, when we came back from dropping stuff off last time, I realized there still had been plenty of stuff I'd left behind that I didn't really use so I thought I'd put them somewhere for a while. Earlier today I found that box again and I looked into it, still filled with stuff I didn't need anymore so I brought it back out and here it is now. I know where it is so when I find something I know I don't use and I'm sure you don't use, it'll go in there."

"You know, I don't think there's anyone out there more generous than you." To Quentin's softly spoken words, Yael blushed and ducked his head. He shrugged lightly, rubbing the back of his mind. He knew it was just how he was. He certainly didn't go out of his way to give these things to people. It was just one of those things. He bought stuff he thought he would use but ended up not using it. There was no point in keeping things like these in the house. If he really, absolutely needed them, he'd get the item back.

Most of what was in the box or what ended up in the box over time were little things, inexpensive trinkets for the most part. Clothes still in good conditions that simply were not being worn, either because they were too big or just too small though the latter was rather rare in his case. He was long since done growing up and no amount of exercise or food would get him to put on more weight than he had at this point in his life.

After living for two years together, he had gained as much weight as he ever would and he knew he still had himself a lot of sharp angles he wouldn't lose. He was thin, he'd been thin for most of his life and his metabolism kept him thin. Quentin was a little heavier though not so much fat as there were no bony edges to him.

"I'm just putting stuff in there that we don't use and you know this as well as I do. At times we'll be out buying things, we'll see something, go 'ooooh' and 'aaaaah' over it, buy it, bring it home and we won't use it at all because we have no use for it." He shrugged, finally standing up again and stretching as he did.

"Well I think you're still absolutely generous and I love you for it. I guess we could go through my stuff for a change, I know I have a slowly growing collection of clothes and there's stuff I no longer wear. I think it's all stuff I stopped wearing when you entered my life." With a laugh, Quentin turned around and headed down the hallway, Yael not quite at his heels though he wasn't far behind. He knew Quentin kept a trunk of old things stored at the end of their closet and he'd never really peeked into it.

"If it wasn't for the nature of the things I keep in my special box, I think a lot of that stuff would end up being given away too but I can't imagine that would be looked at very well." He laughed, his cheeks still somewhat pink as Quentin pulled the old trunk out of the closet with something of a grunt. 

"I'm pretty sure people would buy the stuff, just because it was on sale but I can't picture the folks who take the stuff in to sell it would even set it up and out there, they'd probably just throw it out. Shame though, I like most of them, not that I've seen them in use but I think that in time we'll get there."

Of course, that only served to bring a deeper blush to Yael's cheeks and he stuck his tongue out. "Let's have a look at what's inside that trunk of yours. Who knows, I might steal a piece or two."

"I don't know about that, love, for one, unless you've forgotten, I'm shorter than you and a lot of this stuff is stuff I bought while I was making my way here from Siberia. So it's old, it's worn though not too badly worn but it's all for someone a couple of inches shorter than you and I know you prefer your shirts long." "Details, details."

  


Most of the clothes in the trunk ended up being folded and put into the box, efficiently filling it up to the very top. Yael closed it and made a note to head out into their little shed to get another one eventually. Considering how cold it was out right now, he didn't much feel like getting dressed up just to head out back to gather a box from the shed. Once he'd need something else from there, he would get to it.

"You could almost hide someone in there. Plus, that trunk is honestly beautiful, Quentin. It's old but it's in good condition, it could look good at the food of the bed, what do you think?" Yael had spent more time looking at the trunk itself than he had looking at the clothes Quentin had pulled out from said trunk.

"I guess we could. I don't much see the point to it being there, though."

"Well, we could use it to store other things. Like our winter coats and winter blankets and all the rest in summer. In winter we could store our summer sheets, the swim suits though maybe not, we use those anyway but you know what I mean. We could put a blanket on top of it and I'm sure the cats would love to have somewhere else to sprawl at."

Quentin looked at the chest again for a long moment, looking completely uncertain though he sighed after a minute. "I guess you're right. Want to work your magic on it? It does have a few scuffs and stains, I know how well you worked these antique bird cages you'd found, I bet you could do miracles with this thing. While you'd do that, I could see about weaving us a nice, thick blanket to set up there, just for the cats."

Yael tilted his head to the side, looking the trunk over one last time before he smiled, oh he smiled, a bright, pleased sort of smile. "I can work something out with it though I still want to keep its old look, I'll just scrub it and maybe sand it just a tiny little bit but that's all I'm going to do."

"You're the one doing all the hard work so you decide what you do with it. If you want to stain it another colour, I'm sure we can talk someone into driving us into town so we can get a can or two, I can't imagine we should be walking cans of wood stain or paint out in this temperature too long so a car might be best."

Again, Yael studied the trunk, looking at it from this angle and that one. "For now, I think just a bit of sanding and a gentle scrub to get it clean. We can stain it next year."

Next year it would be. Quentin knew when Yael had made his mind and on particular things, he didn't argue about them. Yael was the artist of the two of them and he knew what he was doing with what he had on hand. It would be a work of art one way or the other and that is all that counted, in the long run.


	31. A Crystal Cup

It was the very last box. He wasn't even sure of where it had been all of this time. He didn't even know where it had been when he'd moved as he couldn't recall moving it with the rest of what little he had owned at that point. It was a simple box, not really the type where you'd put up things when you move, it was closer to a shoe-box in size with removable top and all. He'd found it under his bed while he'd been looking for his glasses.

He couldn't even understand how his glasses had ended up rolling almost to the middle of his bed, glasses weren't mean to roll and he was nowhere near a hill, the floor was flat and even so why, oh why had his glasses rolled all the way there? In a way, he was glad they had as he found that box. The old box, that used, worn box.

With careful fingers curled about it, not even recalling how heavy or not it might be, he pulled it out from under his bed. He didn't move from his spot, merely shifted his weight until he was sitting with his back against his bedside table. There were no knobs to press into his back so he rested his weight back and set the box on his lap.

He knew what was in there, or at least he told himself he knew. It was so old, so small. The bottom edges were taped because it had been rough days until it had somehow landed under his bed. He didn't recall that being there when Eoghan had dropped by with all that new furniture and he couldn't understand it. He tried not to think too much on that one particular point since it would be too problematic, he knew he wouldn't understand and wouldn't make sense of it unless he asked Eoghan and he didn't really see the point.

Fingers trembling, he pulled the top up and off, setting it carefully down next to his legs. He looked into the box, trying to will his mind to understand what he was looking at but all he saw was crinkled newspaper. Had he mistaken this old box for another one?

He reached for the newspaper, assuming it would come easily as empty but crinkled newspaper does but it didn't. His fingertips brushed something solid beneath the paper and he frowned. Now he was even more confused, he didn't know what to make of this very box.

Patting along the paper, he felt out the shape of whatever was in it. After a few moments, his fingers found something that felt like a stem and he lifted whatever it was from there. With his other hand, he carefully unwrapped whatever it was.

With all the paper gone and pulled away, Armin found himself staring at one of a pair of crystal cups. His eyes grew wet as his mind pulled the memory associated with them to the surface and his breath caught. He recalled having looked at them, standing next to Andoni. They had been window shopping, just looking at whatever caught their eyes and these cups had caught his eyes.

He had laughingly said that they'd make a beautiful anniversary gift but that they were a little beyond what his salary could afford, what either of their salary could afford, really. They had walked on. He didn't know when Andoni might have gone back to get them but he assumed they might have been intended for their anniversary. A moment lost as the accident happened just a few days before the day they would have celebrated.

"You must have wrapped them up this way and put them in our photo shoe-box, expecting me to find them." He paused, his voice choked up as he set the first cup down and just as carefully pulled the second one out and unwrapped it. "We always brought the box out on our anniversaries to look at old photos."

From inside the second cup, there was a note and Armin stared at it from within the crystal for a long moment, not daring to take it or look at it. He felt overwhelmed, emotions filling him from all sides, not all of them positive. He suddenly ached, a terrible ache as he remembered that he had lost the one man he had loved more than anything else in the world. 

He knew he couldn't remain holding onto the past, he had done such good progress over the weeks, the months. The sight of these cups and that unread note however made it all surface.

Armin gulped in great gasps of air as the tears broke through his weak hold. He cried, sobbed really.

He cried himself into an exhausted stated of numbness. Finally, he reached for the note, his fingers trembling all the harder. Once he had it between two fingers, he put the cup back in the box and set the box down on the ground, next to his legs. He opened the note, his blurry sight barely managing to read the words though he could tell what they were and his breathing hitched again. 

There were no tears this time, he was empty of tears. His throat felt raw from all his gasping to draw in air while he'd been crying, his chest ached and so did his head. He folded the note closed again, brought it to his lips to kiss it and then set it down next to the two cups, settled in the box. One upside down, the other right side up, fitting side by side perfectly.

"What am I supposed to do with the two of you? I know I can't just display you, not yet, the wound still feels too fresh despite that it's been years. If I'd found you sooner, maybe I could set you out to display you." He murmured the words, closing his eyes. He ached, everything ached and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry about it though he knew he had few tears left in his body at that point.

He reached for the box, curling his fingers about it carefully. He moved it up on the bed and pushed it as far as he could from his position on the floor.

With that done, he eased himself back up to his feet. He ached in ways he couldn't recall aching before, as if all those tears had pulled old wounds to the surface.

Rubbing his eyes, he took the box up again and carefully he made his way off into his study. He would sit it there for the time being, not really wanting to focus on it more than he had to. It was set down gently on his desk and he smiled at the box and all the memories it contained, a sad sort of smile before he shook his head and turned away. He didn't really want to think on it much more. He'd bring it up to Eoghan when the man next visited.

Feeling exhaustion despite that he knew it was all emotional and not exactly physical, Armin eased his way back into his bedroom. He set his crutch out of the way as he always did and he climbed into his bed. He didn't waste much time moving to settle under his cool blankets, aware that they would warm up before too long and help him with the chill his exhausted mind wanted him to believe he felt.

His eyes fluttering shut, he breathed in and out, calmly. Trying as he could, he cleared his mind of everything and tried to imagine he was floating in water. That usually was the one thing that helped him the most in regaining his mental and emotional footing.

Before long, his mind drifted off, sleep claiming him without asking for anything in return. It could only do as it was meant to, after all and all Armin wanted was sleep. 


End file.
